Editorial Review

Over the past seven years, in a highly unstable global economy, Cisco doubled revenue, tripled profits, and quadrupled earnings per share. How? By Doing Both. When companies face key strategic decisions, they often take one path and abandon the other. They focus on innovation and new business at the expense of core businesses or vice versa. They stress discipline and sacrifice flexibility. They focus on customers and ignore partners. And they struggle. Cisco believes there is a better way: Doing Both.

Doing Both means approaching every decision as an opportunity to seize, not a sacrifice to endure. It means avoiding false choices, reduced expectations, and weak compromises. It means finding ways to make each option benefit and mutually reinforce the other. In this book, Cisco Senior Vice President Inder Sidhu explains why “doing both” is today’s best strategy. Then, drawing on Cisco’s hardwon insights and the experiences of companies like Procter & Gamble, Whirlpool, and Harley-Davidson, Inder presents a complete blueprint for “doing both” in your organization, too.

Win by Doing Both!

• Sustaining and Disruptive Innovation

• Existing and New Business Models

• Optimization and Reinvention

• Satisfied Customers and Gratified Partners

• Established and Emerging Countries

• Doing Things Right and Doing What Matters

• Superstar Performers and Winning Teams

• Authoritative Leadership and Democratic Decision Making

Reviews

A Living Example of why "Both-And" wins over "Either-Or"
There is evidence showing up everywhere that the "both-and" theory is not only real, but far more powerful than the limiting "either-or" postulate. "Doing Both," by Inder Sidhu is not only strong evidence that it works, but a wider, broader scope for its use.

We've seen parts of the both-and theory at work in business through co-opetition. However, simple collaboration habits often times do not include the factors that influence business success. Some people might think that today's collaborator would more likely be a new college graduate who works for a start-up technology company who uses a BlackBerry to increase personal productivity.

But, there is more to it than that. Both-and is allowing product innovation and the balancing of many seemingly conflicting goals to be maintained within an organization. Profitability is enabled by balancing seemingly conflicting purposes, not by choosing one or the other.

Inder Sidhu addresses multi-evolutionary product development agendas with a very elegant way of "Doing Both" things. Cisco has become a role model of sorts, where workers are empowered with personalized services, choice, and work-life balance in a human network to get their work done and make organizations thrive. The opening analogy on doing both form and function with the Golden Gate Bridge Bridge is very powerful as it became the symbol for Cisco.

Hopefully their example will inspire you to influence your current environment with the expectation that cultural factors influencing collaboration will include role modeling by senior leaders, a formal collaboration process, tools, training and rewards that will work for you.

"Doing Both" provides insight that will help ease the transition from the old management style to this new more profitable one. This book earns 5 stars because it is inspiring, insightful, and most importantly, practical. It is very well written and is fluid as well as engaging. It very proactively makes the both-and theory come across as quite believable and doable.

This book represents some fresh thinking to current business challenges. Definitely worthwhile spending some serious focus time on.

Let me also tell you about another new business challenge that I believe would be just as important spending some good focus time on...it is proactive managing your online reputation. In addition to "Doing Both" I would highly recommend getting Wild West 2.0: How to Protect and Restore Your Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier.

Even though Cisco is a great company, it still has customer problems ... and you will to. It is inevitable that you will get some bad product reviews, or even worse, revengeful customers who will try to ruin your company's online reputation. Wild West 2.0 tells you exactly where to look for reputation problems and then how to repair them. Internet Reputation Management should not be delegated to your webmaster. From my experience it is now a critical management and marketing issue that concerns everyone from the CEO on down.

Interesting and inspiring


Inder begins with sharing how Cisco's TelePresence video conferencing technology has enabled him to see, hear and almost feel his mother's presence who is 8,000 miles away back home in India. The intro is touching and a friendly reminder of how technology has changed our lives in many ways and most importantly how we stay in touch and always connected.

Inder takes you through the various steps that Cisco has taken to grow to a $40 billion dollar company with over 60,000 employees. Its an interesting read as Inder walks through the history and the strategic decisions made to remain competitive through innovation and bold moves. Inspired by the stories of the background of the leaders chosen, the difficult questions and challenges faced and their paths take to success.

Doing Both is an interesting and inspiring read.

Business wisdom not to be missed
This book hones in on the point that optimal business decisions are not necessarily trade-offs between two choices but usually involve doing both. Written in an engaging, easy-to-read, story-telling style, the book offers numerous examples of how Cisco has been "doing both" to enable its success from multiple angles: technology innovation, market segmentation, supply chain management, organizational design, and more. Inder Sidhu's examples from his personal life are moving and help to make the book quite inspirational. A joy to read.

Unique Insights and Lessons Not To Be Missed
Business books are a "dime a dozen". Fortunately, this book is one that stands apart from the pack. Insightful, thoughtful, compelling and thought provoking, "Doing Both: How Cisco Captures Today's Profits and Drives Tomorrow's Growth" takes the reader on a dynamic journey into the inner workings of Cisco and it's remarkable transformation. Inder SIdhu's storytelling is highly entertaining and provides unique insights that today's business leaders must not miss. This book will be one that I highly recommend to my friends and colleagues.

Organizational transformation is not -- repeat not - a zero-sum game

One of the most self-defeating mindsets is suggested by the admonition, "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Obviously there are situations when there are two options that are mutually-exclusive. However, most of the time, when facing a choice, it is a mistake to select only one and dismiss all others. Inder Sidhu does not advocate "a balanced compromise between two objectives, but a mutually reinforcing multiplier in which each side makes the other better." He cites comments included in Built to Last (1994) co-authored by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras when discussing a highly visionary company "that doesn't want to blend yin and yang into a gray indistinguishable circle that is neither highly yin nor highly yang; it aims to be distinctly yin and distinctly yang - both at the same time, all the time. Irrational? Perhaps. Rare? Yes. Difficult? Absolutely."

Sidhu devotes the bulk of his lively narrative to explaining how exemplar companies such as Apple, BYD, Cisco, GE, Google, IBM, and Procter & Gamble achieve these strategic objectives:

o Improving the core business while conducting disruptive innovation
o Strengthening current account relationships while adding new ones
o Fine-tuning what is done well while transforming or eliminating what isn't
o Creating customer evangelists while creating steadfast partners
o Thriving on "Main Street" while exploring "the road less traveled"
o Doing it right and doing what is right (i.e. what matters)

Obviously, doing both (of whatever) is not always possible or, when possible, advisable. Also, any lessons learned from the exemplar companies such as those Sidhu examines (especially Cisco) must be modified to accommodate the specific needs and resources of much smaller organizations.

With all due respect to the value of these lessons, I think the single greatest benefit of this book is the mindset it can help its reader to develop. Although Sidhu does not cite them and their books, he has clearly been influenced (albeit indirectly) by business thinkers such as Henry Chesbrough (Open Innovation and Open Business Models) and Roger Martin (The Opposable Mind) as well as Venkat Ramaswamy and Francis Gouilllart (The Power of Co-Creation). Their major recommendations track almost seamlessly with Sudhu's own:

1. Be open-minded to possibilities, whenever/wherever they occur
2. Respect and examine those that are plausible, especially if unorthodox
3. Seek out collaborations that are mutually-beneficial
4. Welcome each "failure" as a precious learning opportunity
5. Juxtapose (for rigorous scrutiny) contradictory ideas and options
6. Embrace change as an ally, not as a threat
7. Achieve constant improvement with a discovery-driven process
8. Welcome and support principled dissent
9. Cultivate and nourish an insatiable appetite for learning
10. Challenge what James O'Toole characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom"

Congratulations to Inder Sidhu on a brilliant achievement.

Insightful Premise
Mr. Sidhu effectively presents the issues faced by Cisco in balancing its interests in maintaining current products, services and markets, and expanding into very different ones. He outlines how Cisco has dealt with avoiding the complacency and inflexibility in maintaining current products, services and markets by expanding into new areas, but simultaneously, avoiding overextending the company.

I thought the anecdotes from the experiences of other businesses were instructive, especially for us non IT types. The example of the building of the Golden Gate Bridge was especially helpful.

The concepts outlined in the book would be helpful to the owner of any business, from a local sole proprietorship to a company such as Cisco.

I higly recommend this book.

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Editorial Review

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“The Social Network, the much anticipated movie…adapted from Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires.” —The New York Times

Best friends Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg had spent many lonely nights looking for a way to stand out among Harvard University’s elite, comptetitive, and accomplished  student body. Then, in 2003, Zuckerberg hacked into Harvard’s computers, crashed  the campus network, almost got himself  expelled, and was inspired to create Facebook, the social networking site that has since revolutionized communication around the world.
 
With Saverin’s funding their tiny start-up went from dorm room to Silicon Valley. But conflicting ideas about Facebook’s future transformed the friends into enemies. Soon, the undergraduate exuberance that marked their collaboration turned into out-and-out warfare as it fell prey to the adult world of venture capitalists, big money, lawyers.

Reviews

Tabloid Quality Dramatic Narrative, July 14, 2009
I read this book because I wanted to understand the history of Facebook--a program (a site, a lifestyle) that is changing society. The book's cover (a picture of a red, lacy bra and a couple of cocktail glasses) and subtitle (A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal) should have tipped me off that it was not going to be serious history. Mezrich writes the book in the style of dramatic narrative which apparently means "when I don't have facts, I'll just make 'em up and when the story gets slow, I'll fabricate a sex scene." He does provide lots of interesting facts and shares the rather brutal history of Facebook (from Mark Zuckerberg essentially stealing the idea from people who had asked him to create a very similar social media site to the backhanded way that he forced his co-founder out of the company). I suppose it is a tale of money, genius and betrayal, though I don't see how sex really enters into the true tale except as much as it would for any group of college students (except, of course, as a selling feature). So this is Mezrich's take on the story, written in a tabloid fashion where what is true and what could be true blend together. By his own admission, Mezrich did not speak to Zuckerberg at all and relied very heavily on Eduardo Saverin, a valuable though hardly objective source (seeing as he is the very co-founder who was removed from the company). The framework of the facts seems to line up with what I've read elsewhere but the very nature of the book makes it somewhat less than trustworthy. Still, if you want to know how Facebook came to be, how it evolved from a week's worth of work for a college student to a company valued in the billions dollars, this seems to be the only show in town. Even then, read Wikipedia first to see if it offers enough to satisfy your curiosity before plunking down the money for this book. Even at just $16.50 it's hard to believe that it's worth the money.

Don't accidentally buy this book, July 18, 2009
I enjoyed Ben Mezrich's "Bringing down the House" but his latest books have been terrible. First the very boring "Rigged", and now "The Accidental Billionaires", about the history of Facebook.

All of his books follow the same formula: A young, brilliant man suddenly finds fortune and girls by using his skills to make money in interesting ways. Usually he has a mentor. His success causes some friction with his friends, but he eventually wins out, albeit at a price. This formula is so rigid one wonders if Mezrich begins his books with a Word Template... Chapter Five - Hero realizes the idea will make lots of money... Chapter Eight - Hero gets with girl way out of his league...

The characters seem like hand-puppets even though they are allegedly real-life personas. You have the unlucky-in-love nerd, his pushover sidekick, and the jealous jocks. The dialogue is so mundane and contrived you can't imagine anyone talking that way.

As for women, they exist only as status symbols in Mezrich's books.

Now, the story about the founding of a website will not excite most readers, so Mezrich tries to sex it up with stories of lavish parties and groupies. The problem is Mezrich admits to creative storytelling in the Forward-- collapsing time frames, combining characters, even imagining scenarios. So, in effect, everything not publicly documented could be fabricated.

As a history or bigraphy, then, we already know that the book is useless. But it also fails as a compelling drama. In some chapters basically nothing happens. Mezrich will spend pages describing the setting in detail, the characters will make a few remarks, and then the chapter ends. What was it about? Why was it important? Who knows. But these chapters do pad out the book, which is a breezy read anyway. You will finish the thing in a few hours. There's about 10 words per line, 20 lines per page, and very little content. The meat of the book takes us up to 2005, before Facebook's truly phenomenal growth (it was still far behind MySpace at the time), and before anything is resolved. Like many of the chapters, the book just sorta ends. I suspect the movie rights to this book were sold before the book was even in the outline stage, and he was on a tight deadline.

In short, this book gives you no reliable information, and is not even entertaining.

Poorly written, July 19, 2009
I was amazed how poorly this book is written. I originally thought that it was the author's first book, but to my amazement it turned out that he already published 10 books! I only read it because I was curious about the story, but seriously, the story could be written in 20 pages, not two hundred something. Also, the constant mention of "hot blond" or "hot Asian" chicks was extremely annoying and offensive. Isn't it strange that every character in the book views women purely as a sex object and is only attracted to blonds or Asians. Or is it the author, Ben Mezrich only attracted to Asian or blond chicks? Anyway, this book was a total waste of money for me.

Great look behind the scenes of a revolution, July 27, 2009
Here is what you need to know about this book:

1. Is it an enjoyable read? YES. Read the book in about a day and a half and couldn't put it down at the end.

2. Is it an interesting story? YES. For the first time, I really felt that I was there (the "fly on the wall") as a whole idea unfolded from end-to-end, to become something that makes Microsoft and Google quiver in their boots.

3. Is it an interesting plot? YES. Its a real tragedy of friendship, greed, and power. It is a delightfully unexpected path woven together well by Mezrich.

I saw lot of reviews and reports about this story, and read it eyes-opened. Is this verbatim of what actually happened? Of course not, but do you really believe everything that gets written by Jenna Jameson or Marilyn Manson in their "true autobiographies". Is it clear enough that this is the way the main plot played out? -- to me there is little question.

So if you want to enjoy a good read, pick up this book. It you want to stock up on dry factoids, pick up an Encylopedia Brittanica -- I hear they are real cheap nowadays ;)

Where's the beef?, July 14, 2009
Mark Zuckerberg is the very public face of Facebook so this book will let readers know all about the genius Harvard computer nerd who turned a prank into the biggest social network on the web, right? Sorry, if you want to know anything new about Zuckerberg you'll have to search elsewhere.

He would not speak to the author. Zuckerberg's former friend and partner Eduardo helped out. He doesn't seem to know Zuckerberg at all. By the end of this book he admits that he never really knew the guy well. Even the anonymous sources don't add much to this discussion.

The bare bones of Facebook are here. The embryonic growth phase. The lawsuits. But it is written as a sort of fiction. The author imagines conversations and the details of events. Mezrich went to Harvard so he is writing what he knows, sort of.

The book is already optioned for a film. Perhaps the film will be bolder about portraying Zuckerberg as more than a mysterious cipher? Hard to say, with Zuckerberg's cash perhaps everybody is just afraid of litigation. Who knows?

This book is not any great revelation despite what some adoring critics might claim. A pretty wrapper but not much on the inside....

p.s. Be sure to read the review by Kim Albert aka "BigMamma" in this group of reviews. In the comments section you will find a fascinating conversation between this reviewer and Ben Mezrich, the author of "Accidental Billionaires." Enjoy!

Dont waste your money, Ben has sold out his fans, August 19, 2009
I have read all of Ben's most recent books and have greatly enjoyed his ability to put together facts and tell something in a compelling and behind the scenes fashion. I am so disappointed with this book. First off, just reading the wikipedia page about Facebook gives you as much, if not more, information about the founding of facebook. The story could have been told in 5 pages, since it is lacking research and content. He clearly did not do enough research or he should have written on another topic because the story lacks in every aspect. I feel truly robbed and completely let down.

Fact, or Fiction?, July 15, 2009
Mezrich states that some of the material involves composite characters and imagined conversations. My sense is that the material would be much more readable and credible if he had just created a factual narrative limited to 3-5 pages. As it stands, the book is just a lot of words strung together, too verbose and suspect for even the general reader.

Facebook purportedly began as a prank by a Harvard student (Mark Zuckerberg) that allowed comparing/rating its coeds. Since then three other Harvard students claim that generalizing the Facebook idea was theirs and that they paid Zuckerberg to do the original programming (case pending). It now has about 200 million members. The firm's valuation is estimated at somewhere between $10 billion (per Russian $200 million investment for 1.96% in May, 2009), and $15 billion (per Microsoft $240 million investment for 1.6% in October 2007). Why these enormous valuation figures is not clear - seems like the stratospheric valuations prior to the [...] bust of the late 1990s all over again. "The Accidental Billionaires" also does not explain what Facebook's sustainable competitive advantage is. Thus, the book also lacks value as a basic Harvard Business School case.

Audio is Worse, August 21, 2009
I listened to the unabridged audio of this book, and if you want to torture yourself with high school prose, endless filler with no purpose, and cardboard characters, then this is the audio for you. I agree with other reviewers that Bringing Down the House was a fun read, but this has no content, and appears to be based on Eduardo's limited involvement during the Harvard dorm phase. Further, the audio narrator does not improve on this trainwreck, but substantially contributes to the annoyance factor.

Mega-Money, Technology, and Social Dysfunction, November 6, 2010
People who have panned this book are mostly missing the point in my judgment. Author Ben Mezrich is raconteur with a story to tell, and he doesn't expect us to accept it as business history or even serious journalism. He offers the necessary disclaimers in his introduction, acknowledging that he did the best he could with fragmentary sources and connected the dots where necessary with a fair amount of probabilistic imagining. One senses he captures the gist of this story pretty well, in much the way a talented sketch artist can draw an uncanny portrait despite distortion and a lack of details. Allowing for such limitations, this is quite a good book.

The digital economy has spawned a series of meteoric companies and overnight billionaires over the past three decades. And just when it seemed this phenomenon had passed its zenith, along came Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. Yet another geeky kid with a high IQ and anarchistic tendencies, Zuckerberg created the precursor to Facebook as a hacker's prank during his short stint as a Harvard undergraduate. When the prank "went viral" literally overnight within the Harvard community, Zuckerberg knew he was onto something much bigger than he bargained for.

There were other ideas for online social networks being explored at the time. At Harvard itself, a couple of wealthy six-foot-five crew champions - identical twins - had a similar notion. The Winklevoss brothers knew little about computers, however, and had hired a programmer for the project, who dawdled with it for a while and then quit suddenly. To complete the task, the twins turned to Mark Zuckerberg, who was miles beneath them in social status at Harvard but had become an instant campus celebrity when he hacked the University computers. Everyone at Harvard, including the Winklevosses, knew who he was and recognized his technical prowess. Zuckerman too appeared to doddle with the project, but was in fact moving at lightning speed in secret to build his own social networking site. When he launched the surprise attack, the Winklevosses were stunned and accused him of stealing their idea and their code. In reality, the slow-footed twins had nothing worth stealing, since Zuckerman already had the idea and probably viewed the code as child's play. What he was guilty of was stalling the two brothers long enough for him to gain the first-mover's advantage.

Zuckerberg never looked back afterwards. After "the facebook" pervaded Harvard, he quickly introduced it to one college campus after another as the wild viral phenomenon fed on itself. With thousands, then tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands of new users flocking to the site, Zuckerberg was building a potential gold mine. However, a true-blue hacker to the core, he seemed to care little about business matters or even money. For this stuff, he partnered with his best friend, Eduardo Saverin. Saverin was also something of an outsider at Harvard, but he was more polished than Zuckerberg and had some business credentials. He had managed a small hedge fund one summer, and his father was a successful businessman. Saverin put his own money into the project and in yeoman-like fashion set about finding advertisers for Facebook.

In the meantime, Zuckerberg had made contact with Sean Parker, the buccaneering and hyperactive young co-founder of Napster. Parker had flamed out with Napster and all of his other business ventures to date, but he still saw himself as a player and had ties to serious venture capital money. He introduced Zuckerberg to Peter Theil, a man with very deep pockets, who opened them up to set Facebook on its way as big business. Glibly jettisoning his Harvard career, Zuckerberg moved to California, while Eduardo Saverin chose to continue plodding along back in Cambridge. Sensing correctly that he had become superfluous to the operation and was being phased out, Saverin in a fit of pique tried to short-circuit the young business by closing its bank accounts, which he still controlled. Zuckerberg and his new partners struck back mercilessly by conspiring to drive Saverin out of the company. Zuckerman lured him out to California to review as set of re-incorporation documents, which amazingly Saverin signed without comprehending. Shortly afterwards, Facebook issued a ton of new equity that diluted Saverin's share of the soon-to-be multibillion-dollar company down to virtually nothing. He was out of a job and a fortune, and friendship was out the door.

In his epilogue Ben Mezrich describes himself as an "enormous fan of all the characters in this book", forcing us to wonder how he might write about people for whom he feels less enthusiasm. No one comes off well here. Zuckerberg himself, who didn't cooperate with the author, is a dark enigma. Like most compulsive hackers, he probably has a diagnosable psychological disorder. He could be a schizoid personality, or even suffer from Asperger's syndrome or one of the other mild variants of autism. None of these conditions preclude brilliance, and some can even enhance a person's ability to focus monomaniacally on technical problem-solving.

Eduardo Saverin appears a likeable enough person, but a patsy for whom it's hard to sympathize. For the guy for fancied himself the business brain behind Facebook, the fact that he would blindly sign a legal document authorizing his own destruction seems proof he needed to find another job anyway. Sean Parker, who also was later expelled by Zuckerberg and his new team, seems a stoned-out narcissist, albeit talented and engaging. The Winklevoss twins appear as privileged and rather dim-witted jocks. None of these characterizations are likely to be quite fair, but in a quick sketch, it's how they come across.

Mezrich writes in a style that's reminiscent of early Tom Wolfe and certain other authors whose work constituted what was called "new journalism" back in the 1960's. Like Mezrich, these writers were highly entertaining and easy to read, but they also generally sought to illustrate social themes. In Mezrich's case, his theme is the impact of progressive technology and mega-money on people's lives in twenty-first century America. Whether Mezrich is a "fan" of his characters or not, they don't come across as very happy people. They're engaged in socially useful business, and while not truly corrupt as people, they're self-centered and generally amoral. One gets the impression that mega-money is likely only to make these problems worse for them as their young lives progress.

Mezrich's limited purpose with this book is to entertain us and to illustrate these motifs. I think he succeeds, and I can recommend the book to people who don't expect from it more than it has to offer.

A Book that tells the story of Facebook., February 21, 2010
Facebook transformed the lives of today's young generation. This generation socializes today both physically and electronically! To a large extent, they socialize mostly electronically than physically. Thanks to Facebook!

I am a Facebook user myself and I am quite hooked to it. I access it at least once a day and it helps me stay in touch with friends. I get news of my friends from facebook and I publish my own on it. I stay in touch with all my friends and get back together with friends I lost touch with a long time ago. Facebook truly changed our lives.

This book gives you the story of facebook. The behind the scenes work that helped make Facebook what it is today. It shows how a Billion Dollar project like Facebook could change people and end friendships in a matter of seconds.

Interesting book to read. I believe it serves more as a novel than an autobiography of Mark Zuckerberg. I recommend buying and reading it.
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Editorial Review

Reviews

A Fantastic Read!, September 10, 2010
Like many people, I have no desire to disappear. Yet I am immensely curious of two things: 1 - what information the Internet and the world has on me and 2 - If one wanted to, how can they properly get up and go without being traced? How To Disappear provides both answers. The book has an amazingly in-depth outline of erasing your digital footprint. Something that adds to it's charm is the author's method of delivering this fascinating information in a way that is easily understood and at many times truthfully humorous. It is not just a "how to" guide. It is much, much more. I recommend this book to anyone who is curious about disappearing (even if you do not want to), determined to disappear, and someone looking for a great read!

It has some helpful hints and is worth reading., September 5, 2010
If you wish to disappear and not be quickly and easily found it has many helpful suggestions on how to avoid the many common mistakes making people easy to find and how to leave false trails. For that it is worth buying. However, the authors deliberately avoid any discussion about changing your identity.

As the authors point out, whether intentionally or unintentionally, it is very expensive and difficult to hide without changing your identity and you certainly cannot hide from the government without changing your identity.

The authors have no experience or expertise about changing your identity so they avoid the issue by claiming it is a bad idea. They do offer one suggestion. That is, to pay someone in an impoverished country $2,000 per year to borrow their identity. However, the authors offer no suggestions as to how to do that. Nevertheless, that one suggestion and examples of how to leave false trails and to avoid common mistakes, makes the book worth buying.

Otherwise, the book is a disappointment because, without changing your identity, as the authors point out, it will cost many thousands of dollars and an extreme amount of time and effort to hide from anyone willing to spend a few thousand dollars to find you.

Therefore, since the book offers no help in hiding from the government, is of little value to most people. The book is of primary value to wealthy individuals that want privacy from individuals (not government) wanting to find them and willing to spend $10,000 or more to do so.

If you are not hiding from the government, most people can just move and not be found since it is unlikely that anyone they know would spend several thousand dollars to find them.

The vast majority of people that need to disappear, need to disappear from the government due to some minor youthful indiscretions such as having sex at age 17 with their 16 year old girlfriend and being placed on the list of sex offenders until age 40 or having a criminal record for smoking a joint. For such individuals, other than the short hint about borrowing someone's identity by paying them $2,000 per year, the book is of no value. The government does not spend money looking for and tracking these individuals. However, their youthful indiscretions prevent them from getting a good job and having a normal life.

A must read!, September 8, 2010
I just finished reading this book, and I just love it! Even if you dont need to "disappear", it has tons of useful tips about privacy. I never realized how much information I gave away about myself until I read this. Everyone should be aware of this.

AWESOME BOOK! BEWARE- YOU'LL DISAPPEAR INTO ITS PAGES WITH FASCINATION!!, October 30, 2010
This book is wonderful-- even for people like me who have no intention of disappearing (except into its pages)! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it no matter what kind of mood I was in because it's like two books in one. It offers serious invaluable advice on the tools one can use to attain/retain as much privacy as possible in this increasingly digitized and invasive un-private world, as well as to stay safe from those seeking us to cause us harm, but it also contains descriptions of cases the author worked on that are fascinating and fun to read! And it's very entertaining to read about some of the crazy people Mr. Ahearn encountered as well as some of the stupid things people do. There are also amusing (often hilarious) asides with words of wisdom and advice from the author, for example:

"Just remember: if two men in trench coats are at your door, it's the FBI. If it's just one man in a trench coat, it's the IRS. Either way, you probably shouldn't open the door."

The book is written in a breezy informal manner that makes it seem as though you're having a conversation with the author at the kitchen table. So to Mr. Ahearn-- much applause and encore please!! And, as for the cases described in the book, they'd sure make a great TV series!!

Interesting reading, but don't try this at home, October 13, 2010
A book such as How to Disappear : Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish without a Trace, scores very high on the cool factor. Ultimately though, it's one of those books that details things you should not try at home.

Author Frank Ahearn is a professional skip tracer; which is a person who locates other people. The term comes from the word skip being used to describe the person being searched for, and comes from the idiomatic expression to skip town, meaning to depart, perhaps in a rush, and leaving minimal clues behind for someone to trace the skip to a new location. Often these people are wanted by the government, family, spouses, or other authorities.

The book is touted as the "authoritative and comprehensive guide for people who seek to protect their privacy, as well as for anyone who's ever entertained the fantasy of disappearing - whether actually dropping out of sight or by eliminating the traceable evidence of their existence". Those are a number of very different goals.

For those who seek to protect their daily privacy in the physical world, the book provides a lot of good, high-level insights.

Since the author admits he isn't a technology expert, the book doesn't offer significant input on how to ensure online privacy, short of saying that one shouldn't use social media. Readers wanting to protect their online privacy can use effective resources such as CDT's Guide to Online Privacy for such topics.

Most people want to protect their privacy, and while many do entertain a fantasy of simply disappearing, the reality is that true disappearance is extraordinarily difficult and fraught with risk.

At 197 small pages, the book is a quick read and covers all of the key points. The book does have a lot of good details, but isn't the definitive text, as the devil is in the details, and many of those details are missing in the book. The person who truly wants to disappear would need an expert like Ahearn to work with them, rather than simply relying on the book alone.

The danger in a book like this is that it may lead someone to attempt to disappear on a whim. That is a great way to get themselves in a fine mess, often ending up in more trouble than before their aborted disappearance attempt.

The book focuses on 3 key areas: misinformation (destroying all the data known about you), disinformation (creating fake trails) and reformation (act of getting you from origination to destination without leaving any clues).

Some of the books ideas are similar to the federal witness protection program. In the federal program, witnesses are encouraged to keep their first names and choose last names with the same initial in order to make it easier to instinctively use the new identity.

Like the federal witness program, the books notes that in order to prevent the possibility of someone being followed, they should use a convoluted and indirect transportation path before finally reaching the location where they will live under the new identity. This path often involves a long chain of seemingly random routes which are intended to be difficult for a skip tracer to find or anticipate.

The book includes numerous stories of real-world scenarios in which Ahearn was involved with, and shows how to avoid their mistakes.

Many people envision disappearing as being on a beach with endless beers. Ahearn paints a reality involving endless use of disposable cell phones, cash cards, and remote mail boxes. But that is a lonely existence most people don't seem ready for.

Can someone really change themselves? Yes, but it's very expensive and difficult to hide without changing your identity and you certainly cannot hide from the government without changing your identity. The book is ultimately for someone who has a lot of money, as there is no way to create a new life on the cheap.

The book doesn't detail how to create a completely new identity in a new location, something that seemingly only a witness protection program can do, and mainly is about leaving false trails so that those looking for you can't find you.

For the person contemplating disappearing, they must ask themselves if they really want to live a life of endless prepaid phone cards and prepaid credit cards, using only free wireless and disposable USB memory cards as the book suggests. The book is about ensuring that one's old life and new life don't connect. After a few months of that, most people will likely be quite lonely.

The author notes that most people want to disappear for two main reasons: danger or money. Some people deal with stalkers, abusive ex-spouses or someone who came into money and doesn't want friends or family to locate them.

In a recent interview, Ahearn suggested New Zealand is one of the best places to disappear, as it's a long way off and has great beaches, is an English-speaking country and it's easy to acclimate to life there. But for a lifelong Red Sox fan do they really want to root for the New Zealand Warriors rugby team? Does the person understand the cold reality of vegemite?

Ultimately this is an interesting, but impractical book for the vast majority of people. Can one disappear? Perhaps, but it's getting harder, even with an expert like Ahearn. Perhaps the biggest deterrent should be Google StreetView. Even if one moves far away, StreetView is there, ready to announce your location to the world.

For most readers How to Disappear : Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish without a Trace will be an entertaining book that does have valuable information.

Ultimately, for those considering disappearing, they need to understand the implications of loudly shutting the door on their way out of society. They should contemplate that before they take a course of action they are likely going to regret.

Consider what you might do with a winning lottery ticket, October 11, 2010
This is a compelling little read, though I doubt much of what is presented is all that factual, much less useful to the person in search of such tips. Nonetheless, the entertainment value is real, and the writing style very personable, much as though the author were sitting across the table.

What you'll encounter in the reading is fodder to fuel those palm tree fantasies as you gaze upon that surely winning lottery ticket you bought earlier, and that's certainly worth an evening or two with a few glasses of Chardonnay.

Making it harder and more expensive for someone trying to track you down..., December 5, 2010
While I have my doubts that one can disappear completely without "special assistance" (as in government help or an extreme amount of money), there *are* some ways to make it a lot more difficult to be found by non-government officials. Frank Ahearn and Eileen Horan cover a lot of that information in their book How to Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish without a Trace. This is not a large encyclopedic manual on how to eliminate your existence; rather it's more a handbook on how to make it more difficult to be traced (and a lot more expensive for those determined to do so).

Contents:
I'm Frank. Nice To Meet You; Meet Your Enemy - The Skip Tracer; A Skip Tracer's Best Friends; Time To Disappear; Misinformation; Tracks And Clues In The Home; Disinformation; Your Reformation Arsenal; Reformation; How Not To Disappear; Disappear From Identity Thieves; Disappear In Social Media; Disappear From A Frog; Disappear From A Stalker; Disappear From The Country; Pseudocide 101; Final Thoughts; Acknowledgments; Index

Ahearn was a professional skip tracer, a person paid to track people down. Using both legal and illegal methods, he was usually able to find whoever he was going after as they nearly always left a trail of some sort. In Disappear, he takes the other side of the equation and talks about what someone would need to do to make it more difficult and expensive to find them. While some of them are obvious (stop using social media, don't use your credit cards), others are more tricky and require some time and effort (and money) to put into place. For instance, in one case he had a person open a small checking account and the ATM card was given to a friend who traveled extensively. The friend made small charges in various cities, making it look like the person was moving around a great deal. He coupled that with a visit to a different city to look at apartments and have a credit check run. Any skip trace looking to find the person would have to pursue those leads, all of which would lead to dead ends. Yes, the skip trace may eventually pull the right thread at some point, but the costs to the person looking for you go up significantly.

If you take the information in this book for what it's worth, it's a good reference tool and a fun read. Thinking this is the equivalent of the Witness Protection Program "how-to" manual is a mistake, as it's not. And if the federal authorities are after you, there's little in here that will keep them at bay for very long. But if you're trying to disappear from the annoying ex or a crazy who has a beef with you, How To Disappear might be the key for keeping a step or two ahead of them.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Library
Payment: Borrowed

Not a total waste of time..., November 26, 2010
While not a total waste of time, the book is a combination of the obvious (don't use your usual credit card or call with your usual mobile phone) with the somewhat ridiculous (setting up multiple drop boxes which forward to different addresses depending on the return address of the package), glued together with some tough-guy sounding fluff. There are some good ideas sprinkled around, and the chapter on escaping stalkers and the like seemed worthwhile. (Without that I would have given 2 stars.) All in all, a book twice or thrice the length it should have been, which will be of absolutely no use to most people, but with a somewhat interesting peak inside a world most never come across.

Great book and I have a recommendation for his next one, October 23, 2010
I loved this book. I learned a few things from it. I learned about mis -information, dis-information and reformation. I learned to hired a PI to see how good of a job you did disappearing. I love the real live cases he had.

The only recommendation, I have I always like books that teach something to tie things together in the final chapter, a summary, a breakdown of the concepts.

I am curious about subjects I will never do -but people disappear every day.

Recommendation for the author, next book: do a book on disappearing from the government(as another reviewer commented) and as technology is running our life, get an expert on technology to enhanced the book.

Kudos to the author, great book.

Excellent Resource, October 21, 2010
For a small book, this book is packed with info and helpful tips for anyone interested in disappearing. The author gets right to the point on the different subjects without wasting words or time. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Get complete coverage of the latest release of the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) exam inside this comprehensive, fully updated resource. Written by the leading expert in IT security certification and training, this authoritative guide covers all 10 CISSP exam domains developed by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC2). You'll find learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter, exam tips, practice exam questions, and in-depth explanations. Designed to help you pass the CISSP exam with ease, this definitive volume also serves as an essential on-the-job reference.

COVERS ALL 10 CISSP DOMAINS:

• Information security and risk management
• Access control
• Security architecture and design
• Physical and environmental security
• Telecommunications and network security
• Cryptography
• Business continuity and disaster recovery planning
• Legal regulations, compliance, and investigations
• Application security
• Operations security

THE CD-ROM FEATURES:

• Hundreds of practice exam questions
• Video training excerpt from the author
• E-book

Shon Harris, CISSP, is a security consultant, a former member of the Information Warfare unit in the Air Force, and a contributing writer to Information Security Magazine and Windows 2000 Magazine. She is the author of the previous editions of this book. ... Read more

Reviews

I passed the CISSP using only this book and a TON of preparation, May 30, 2010
There is no simple formula to prepare for the CISSP certification, and no single resource which can guarantee success on the certification exam since every applicant's background is unique. However, this book (fifth edition) was my only resource in preparing for the exam and I passed on my first attempt (April 24, 2010).

I spent 60+ hours in preparation for the exam... that's 60+ hours of DEDICATED individual study using this book and CD, not 60+ hours spent web surfing during lunch hours or commercial breaks. My recent background is in middle management, with 20 years experience in network architecture and data security, so I already had a firm technical foundation for the test areas dealing with protocols and encryption variations. I also have an MS in Computer Science. Nonetheless, the exam was so broad, with topics covering general principles and concepts, that I could have prepared twice as long and still left the exam with questions about the outcome.

My personal opinion is that formal classroom instruction, through one of the many organizations offering CISSP preparation courses, is a worthwhile companion to Shon Harris' book. A study group is also a good idea. You will not obtain CISSP certification if you take the exam without preparation. This book (fifth edition) was sufficient, but not 100% comprehensive, to prepare me for passing the CISSP test.

Note: Some reviewers do not appreciate Shon's frequent analogies and humor. Most of her analogies helped me internalize the complex topics, but that's my personal learning style. The efforts at humor were generally awful, but every once in a while she was subtle and brilliant enough to make me laugh out loud. Working through Shon's unique writing style was not a problem for me... I actually found it refreshing.

Useful, but hardly a technical book, March 26, 2010
From a perspective of preparation for the CISSP examination this book is one of the standard places to start from. In that respect, I would give it a 4-start simply because it follows the core notion of the exam itself in that it is a mile wide and an inch deep.

However, do not expect this book to provide technical details or even technical language consistently. There's a lot of verbiage, needless attempts at humor - which really degrades the overall standing of the book - and just the right amount of information, but no more.

Also, do not make this book the sole resource for preparation. You *may* pass the exam but will be none the wiser for most of what the book covers.

Given that this is a technical examination after all, I would have much appreciated if the author did not try and frame the same statement in multiple ways in the same paragraph, stuck to using consistent technical language and provided more links to resources for additional information. It would also have been nicer if the key technical points, definitions, important values were better highlighted - or even repeated in a prominent tip - after every section so that a second reading becomes a lot less demanding. The exam is challenging in itself and the book and author can do a lot more to make preparation a less demanding experience.

It is difficult to come across books that are worthy of technical appreciation and I am afraid the above points make this a middle of the road effort.

I have no particular affinity to either the author or publication but would recommend giving the Mike Chapple book a shot. You will be a lot less frustrated reading technical matter for a technical examination than with the narrative-style of the Shon Harris book.

Edition comparison, February 24, 2010
I bought the third edition of this book in October 2009 to prepare for the exam. The reason for buying that instead of this fifth edition is obvious. It cost me only $2.95 plus $4.00 shipping. I was a little worry at the beginning because of the new material that was added since 2005. However, I though I can supplement with material in the internet. At the end, I don't have the time because the exam was on January 16, 2010 which gave me less than 4 months. During the exam, I did not see anything that I have not seen in the third edition. If you know something about the exam, you know they are not going to ask you directly about a concept or technology. So, you really have to understand the material. Since CISSP is more about principle and concept and less about specific technology, using a third or fifth edition is not going to make a big different. I passed the exam in one shot. Don't get me wrong. Getting the latest and the greatest is always good and I will consider getting the fifth in the near future when I need to brush up the knowledge. But if you want to save a little of money, consider getting the fourth or the third.

The Gold Standard for CISSP, January 30, 2010
This is the absolute gold standard, the one-stop shopping reference for CISSP certification! The price is economical enough to highlight its passages and put notes in its margins. It is the fifty-dollar solution to the horrifically expensive test.

Every IT professional I met, who passed the CISSP test the FIRST time, credits the Shon Harris CISSP manual.

It is the preferred reference for corporations to hand out free to thier employees.

Shon Harris, CISSP AIO 5th Edition - Great Buy!, January 30, 2010
I find this book to be very well written and contains alot of updated materials. I was getting a bit upset that I couldnt find a updated reference material until I found out about this edition. I would recommend this book to anyone who is attempting to get their CISSP. I've just started reading the book today and managed to get to Chapter 3. This book is very well written, and the cd contains multiple PDF's, that I use to read on my cell phone. I also like how the PDF's are broken down into chapters. It helps set small goals and allows you to feel accomplished after reading a 100+ page chapter!

CISSP All in one Exam Guide, July 6, 2010
I cannot say enough good things about this book. I used this and Exam Cram as my sole sources to prepare for this exam and I passed on my first try. I don't have a very technical background so this book prepared me thoroughly for the exam and also helped a great deal in my work as an IT Security Specialist.

Best written resource to study for your CISSP, March 26, 2010
Shon's fluid writing style is enjoyable to read, and communicates effectively, much better than what I've seen from any other CISSP book. However, it takes some time to get through. I only gave myself a month to read it before the exam and I was CRAZY. I think two months would be more reasonable, but to get it done you really need to come up with a schedule and track your progress. If you don't have time for that, I'd recommend attending a bootcamp.

Superb Domain Coverage, June 10, 2010
I've had the pleasure to attend a CCISP class conducted by Shon Harris. She is an exceptional instructor and her All in One book translates the classroom discussions well to the written form.
Great coverage of all the required domains. Highly recommended!

Provides complete coverage of the latest release of the CISSP exam, May 18, 2010
The fifth updated edition of All-in-One CISSP Exam Guide provides complete coverage of the latest release of the CISSP exam, is written by a leading expert in IT security certification, and offers a course text accompanied by a CD-ROM of hundreds of practice exam questions and a video training excerpt by the author. Both students practicing for the exam and workers on the job need this detailed, in-depth course, jam packed with information and tests to be certain of comprehension.

The Bible for CISSP Certification, April 4, 2010
This Study Guide is the one for CISSP Certification. Almost everyone I've know who has the CISSP certification has this book on their shelf. Shon has struck a homerun with CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide. Jeffrey W. Bennett, ISP author of: ISP Certification-The Industrial Security Professional Exam Manual or How to Prepare for and Pass the Industrial Security Professional Certification Exam;
National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) ... Read more

Editorial Review

A full-color guide to the hot-selling Droid X!

The Droid X has landed and it?s selling like hotcakes! Ultimate For Dummies author Dan Gookin introduces you to everything the Droid X does. Covering a wide range of how-to topics, this full-color guide explores the device's features and shares techniques to getting the most out of Motorola's exciting smartphone. You?ll quickly discover that the Droid X is more than just a cell phone as you walk through setup and configuration, texting, e-mail, accessing the Internet, synching with a PC, using the camera, running multiple apps simultaneously, and expanding the Droid X?s potential with new software.

• Dives in to the exciting capabilities and features of Droid X
• Covers setup and configuration, battery care, maintenance, and troubleshooting
• Gets you going with using the Droid X as phone, camera, Internet, calendar, and more
• Walks you through connecting your Droid X to other things, customizing your Droid X, and adding multiple applications that can all run simultaneously

Don't avoid the Droid X! The three D?s?Droid X, Dummies, and Dan Gookin?have you covered! ... Read more

Reviews

Fantastic and full of information, September 12, 2010
I recently bought 3 Droid X phones, one for myself and one for each of my sons. Since I am 60 this new technology is harder to learn then perhaps for others. But thanks to Dan Gookin and his book I am using my new Droid like I've had it for months. His book has a wealth of information and covers everything there is to know about the phone except perhaps how to build your own. What I like most is the color pictures since I am a visual learner. Would I buy another one? Absolutely and in fact I did. The next day I went back to the book store and purchased one for my sons. Thanks from a senior citizen!

The manual that should have come with the phone, September 19, 2010
Droid X for Dummies is an informative book. I always figure a new phone out as I go without a book. The book saves a lot of time, and "oh, I wish I would have known that" moments.

One area the book is silent - Tethering. This refers to your phones ability to connect a computer to the internet. That means you can have internet access for your computer anywhere your phone has signal. There is a great app for tethering well worth the price of admission. Look it up in the app store.

A Dummy reading Droid X for Dummies, October 2, 2010
I'm fairly tech savey, but even the new Motorola Droid X has enough in it that I needed some help. This book has helped tremendously. Although I did notice a few minor errors in it, overall, it is well written, easy to understand, and has gobs (a technical term) of great information. For example, when typing, I constantly switched between letters and numbers. Droid X for Dummies told me that if I held a letter down, I would get whatever number or symbol was above that letter. This has saved me a lot of time from switching back and forth. The Google map chapeter has loads of valuable information in it. If you need any help with your Droid X, I highly recommend this book. Even if you are tech savey, I'm sure that you'll find some good information/ideas in it.

No Pictures delivered with the Android Kindle Download, September 25, 2010
The KINDLE EDITION of this book is DEFECTIVE!!!

The color print edition is excellent!!! The pictures and topics are very, very good and very helpful. This is a wonderful book.

The Kindle edition for Android on my Verizon Droid X is WORTHLESS because NONE of the illustrations come with the download I just did today (Sat, Sep 25, 2010)

Amazon refunded my money (great service as usual) and I will now get the print version.

DO NOT BUY this to use on the Verizon Droid X Kindle edition until the problem(s)are fixed. There needs to be upgrades to the Kindle program on my Verizon Droid, or to the actual Kindle Edition Amazon sends to the Verizon Droid.

The Droid X Novice Survival Guide, November 15, 2010

The undisputed Droid X manual!, December 2, 2010

Surprisingly useful, November 10, 2010

R2D2 gives this book a "beep" of approval!, November 8, 2010

real owners manuel, November 2, 2010
Droid X real manuel, if you purchased or are thinking of buying the droid x get this book asap.Directions that come with it are a joke. literally the size of a cocktail napkin.Droid x for dummies will have you taking advantage of all the phones capabilities in a short time instead of looking at it like a dummy.

Great help!, October 19, 2010
Droid X for Dummies is easier to understand than the Manual. Small things are explained - like how to move a cursor when texting or how to use map apps. Many are suggestions on what to do if the oridingal directions don't work. Of course, it is in a fun presentation :) ... Read more

Editorial Review

A must have guide for creating engaging and usable SharePoint 2010 branding

With SharePoint 2010, Microsoft has provided a more robust environment for creating collaboration and content management sites that rival any of the popular websites on the internet. Creating a branded SharePoint site involves understanding both traditional web design techniques as well as topics that are typically reserved for developers. This book bridges that gap by not only providing expert guidance for creating beautiful public facing and internal intranet sites but it also addresses the needs of those readers that only want to understand the basics enough to apply some style to their sites.

Things like creative design, the experience visitors have navigating your user interface, ease of use?these are all important branding considerations and not always intuitive. This unique book from a team of SharePoint branding experts lays it all out. The book is divided into four sections:

• Introduction to SharePoint Branding: In this part you will learn about what SharePoint branding is and how the topic has changed since SharePoint 2007.
• Branding Basics: This section is geared towards both getting started as well as being a guide for people that don?t want to dive super deep into the advanced topics of SharePoint branding. You will learn about how to plan for branding projects, including creating wireframes and creative mockups as well as gathering requirements and estimation. You will learn how to work with SharePoint Designer 2010, SharePoint 2010 themes, and SharePoint navigation as well as gain an understanding of the low and medium effort approaches to branding can be used to make SharePoint look more like your own visual style.
• Advanced Branding: This is where you will learn about the more intricate techniques for making large changes to the SharePoint UI, such as cascading style sheets (CSS), master pages, page layouts, web parts and XSLT. You will also get an introduction to deploying SharePoint branding to production servers using solution packages (WSP).
• Other Topics: Everything else that is related to SharePoint branding is discussed here, including working with the SharePoint 2010 ribbon and client side technologies such as the client object model, jQuery, and Silverlight.

Whether you want to make SharePoint look completely different or just make minor design changes, this expert guide will provide tips, techniques, and insights to get the job done. ... Read more

Reviews

*THE* SharePoint 2010 branding & UI customization resource, December 12, 2010
Finding information and guidance around branding and creating custom user experiences (UX) with SharePoint 2010 is quite a challenging task. Not only does this book do a fantastic job of walking you through creating and implementing a custom design in SharePoint 2010, but its by IMHO the best designer out there in the SharePoint space: Randy Drisgill. This is a MUST HAVE resource for those customizing the look & feel of SharePoint sites, especially those creating internet facing sites.

Not easy to write a good SP2010 branding book, November 29, 2010
It is easy to leave reviews, or even read books, but writing books is a whole another deal.

Writing good books is not easy. It is very difficult to present cohesive and accurate thoughts that are the work of many minds over many months over hundreds of meticulously carved pages.
In reading this book, I was happy to see that no stone was left unturned when talking specifically about SharePoint 2010 branding - no this is not a IT pro book, this is not a developer's book.
There cannot be a single book that covers EVERYTHING about SP2010. But when it comes to branding, this book is top notch.

I was especially pleased to see attention to detail such as not ignoring core CSS principles, HTML standards, browser sense, trends etc.. Branding SharePoint is not exactly the same your typical ASP.NET or PHP site. Branding SharePoint 2010 is it's own unique skill that requires significant SharePoint knowledge. It isn't just CSS and HTML and JavaScript, it is also navigation, security, master pages, standard CSS specific to SharePoint, SharePoint and ASPNET controls applicable to SharePoint, the theming engine, etc. etc. etc.

I was hoping that this book didn't sacrifice the classic branding knowledge, which is pure CSS,HTML and Javascript, in favor of being a pure one sided SharePoint book. And I am happy to see that this is a book well grounded in the current technology set, SharePoint or otherwise.

Finally, I like the author's writing style (disclaimer, I'm around page #200 right now). I hate to read books that have the personality of a whitepaper. This book is very conversational and fun to read.

Good work!

All around terrific Branding and UX resource!, November 24, 2010
What's in this book my manager, users, and I have been waiting for. This is a great start in branding and User design work for SharePoint 2010. I've been really busy setting up our corporate farm and working with some of our developers on cool new solutions. Now I can deliver them with a solid brand and a fresh look and feel that is unique and professional. This book will set you on a course with fresh ideas and confidence.

I've spent the last few days with this book and being new to SharePoint and specifically new to SharePoint 2010 I really appreciate the depth the authors have used in their topics. Everyone will get something from this book. From the new SharePointer to the old salt, there is something here for everyone.

I truly appreciated the sections on customizing the ribbon, wireframes, and the entire section on SharePoint Designer 2010. I also now have a new perspective on waffles!! If nothing else this book will keep you wanting a delicious breakfast treat!!

Black Friday is upon us, what a perfect gift for that SharePoint geek in your life!

Kindle Version = Bad Formatting and Hard to Read, December 13, 2010
This is my first Kindle version that I am reading on the Kindle for PC application. While the images are better than in the Kindle, the formatting is still awful making the book painful to read. You can change the size of the font, but not the font itself (in this case it is Times New Roman which I personally do not like). I am an IT professional, and I am trying to reduce my dependence on paper books. I was hoping that the Kindle version would be a good substitute for paper editions, but it is not when compared to PDF.

And you get to pay more for this hard to read mess than an easy to read, well formatted print book. Kindle might be good for novels, but forget about it for technical books. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Want to get started building applications for Android, the world’s hottest, fast-growing mobile platform? Already building Android applications and want to get better at it? This book brings together all the expert guidance–and code–you’ll need!

Completely up-to-date to reflect the newest and most widely used Android SDKs, The Android Developer’s Cookbook is the essential resource for developers building apps for any Android device, from phones to tablets.

Proven, modular recipes take you from the absolute basics to advanced location-based services, security techniques, and performance optimization. You’ll learn how to write apps from scratch, ensure interoperability, choose the best solutions for common problems, and avoid development pitfalls. Coverage includes:

• Implementing threads, services, receivers, and other background tasks
• Providing user alerts
• Organizing user interface layouts and views
• Managing user-initiated events such as touches and gestures
• Recording and playing audio and video
• Using hardware APIs available on Android devices
• Interacting with other devices via SMS, web browsing, and social networking
• Storing data efficiently with SQLite and its alternatives
• Accessing location data via GPS
• Using location-related services such as the Google Maps API
• Building faster applications with native code
• Providing backup and restore with the Android Backup Manager
• Testing and debugging apps throughout the development cycle

Turn to The Android Developer’s Cookbook for proven, expert answers–and the code you need to implement them. It’s all you need to jumpstart any Android project, and create high-value, feature-rich apps that sell!

Reviews

Awesome cookbook book, November 23, 2010
Contains good explanations about examples, plenty code ready to use, chapters are well divided, doing and showing exact what the topic says, no examples that you have to go implementing on it each chapter. Cover 100% of Android 2.0 and probably 95% of 2.2 version. It really helped me to start developing applications for Android platform.
Explanations start from download the SDK, Eclipse, plugins and how to setup everything, has the basic things as Activity classes, how to create all sort of Android .xml files, and the advanced knowledge as how works with Threads, that's in similar way of Java though the implementations is different, covers everything that will will need to develop all sort of applications to Android. Everything full of very useful examples.
It's worth the price.

excellent book, saved me many hours of development time, November 29, 2010
Application development for Android is a very time consuming process. This book provides a balanced collection of recipes that help "cooking" of the application code faster. For me, it was a big time saver since I found multiple code samples applicable to the project that I am working on. For example access to the phone censors was very well described in the book and code sample was ready for cut-and-paste into my project. Process of adding Google maps was also described in sufficient details so the process of digging into the Google API doc was much shorter than it would be if I did not have this book in my disposal. Highly recommend to everyone developing Android apps!

Great book, December 1, 2010
I really love this book. The way it is organized and the progression at which the material is presented is spectacular. I have read some others books but quickly put them back on the shelf because the way they explain things were just too confusing. I highly recommend this book to all levels of programming experience. whether you are new to android development like me or already highly skilled, there is great resource in here you can use for your own applications. Highly recommend this book.

It exceeded my expectations, December 5, 2010
I am very appreciated on how this book was written, it's not only the best Android book I have read, it definitely is one of the best tech book I have read. The order and content of material was very well thought, example was very well prepared, great background knowledge was given, result in reusable, extandsible, understandable recipe. I like how the wording are easy to understand, example are in the right length. In alot of situation when I have a question in mind while reading the example, it will be answered clearly by reading a few more sentence below the section. This book can be quick to go through, I finished it in a weekend and is able to get started to work on my android project, save me alot of time. Definitely will recommand this book to others.

Good book, it won't teach you Android!, December 17, 2010
This is a Cookbook style publication. It's pretty awesome for what it is I guess but everything they have published in this book is easily found on the Google developers site and that site won't ever be out of date unlike this book is....well, today, now 2.3 is released. Of course some of the info will still pertain to the current devices since there is really only one or two phones getting the 2.3 update right now. Regardless, if you are new to programming Android and want to learn, first....LEARN JAVA Don't even start on an Android book. You will give up and quit, let me say that again. Learn Java first or you will give up and quit. If it was all easy, everyone would be doing it not just trying to do it.

Overall, the book is good but the info is easily found elsewhere. I do personally like the Kindle addition I have because I can do an easy search on the book which is nice but the paper version would have been shelved about an hour after UPS left the door. ... Read more

Editorial Review

CompTIA Security+ SY0-201: Get Certified, Get Ahead by Darril Gibson presents a comprehensive and all-inclusive approach for studying, preparing, and mastering the core competencies needed to pass the CompTIA Security+ SY0-201 exam.Learn from an expert in the field with over twenty years’ experience in the IT arena.Over the years, author Darril Gibson has helped hundreds of students get certified, and has included in this text the time-tested information used in his successful classes.This manual covers one hundred percent of all exam objectives and includes real world examples of security principles in action.Also included are over 375 practice test questions with in-depth explanations. Written with clarity and efficiency, CompTIA Security+ SY0-201: Get Certified, Get Ahead is a one-stop shop for any IT professional interested in advancing in the IT field and a must read for anyone striving to master the basics of IT systems security. ... Read more

Reviews

Perfect!!, December 12, 2009
perfect! i love this book. i had the original microsoft security+ book for class, and this book covered WAY more than what that book did, and alot less pages. i'm going to take my security+ certification exam on the 18th of December. i'm feeling very confident, as this book says it covers 100% of the exam. i'm just hoping there's no scenarios on the test =p, just questions about what i learned in the book, lol.

EDIT: Passed my exam with a 865/900 with this book! About 2-3 tricky questions throughout the entire test but it was ALL familiar. There was absolutely NOTHING unfamiliar on this test that the book didn't cover! Thank you :)

The only book you need!, January 20, 2010
The best thing I like about this book is that it talks to you instead of technically instructing you and it makes for a comfortable read while riding the bus or in bed. Another good feature is the text size is exceptionally larger than Sybex books, which again makes it easier to read. You will pass with book read it cover to cover and once over any areas you dont understand and take all the practice questions(seriously like the real exam).

Hit the Nail Right on the Head!, October 20, 2009
This book is excellent for both real world techniques for employing best practices for security as well as for passing the CompTia SYO-201 Security + Exam. It gets to the main points very quickly and actually is a very easy read...despite the fairly complex subject matter. The author doesn't preach to the choir, nor does he talk down to his audience...but it's almost as if he is engaging the reader in a discussion about various security related topics. The book is very well laid out and has lots of important points pulled out and highlighted in 'Remember' bubbles. Add to the excellent content a liberal sprinkling of Practice Exam questions thoughout the book and you have the perfect blend of study guide and reference book!

This is THE BOOK for nailing the Security + exam!

98 percent complete, August 11, 2010
I just passed the exam with an 868/900 (96%) and I used this book almost solely. I will throw in the disclaimer that I'm a CCNA, MCSA, and VCP (VMWare Certified Professional) with 15 years experience and the real-world experience was actually tested pretty effectively at times. I feel bad for young bucks that have lived in the world of prolific anti-virus software on workstations, servers, and email relays.

I downloaded the Security+ 2008 Exam Objectives directly from the CompTia website and double checked that this book hit on every topic and ever acronym. I'd recommend hitting this same list before, after, and during to make sure you didn't skim or miss anything. If you're very solid on the content in this book and everything on the objective list then you should call yourself "ready for this exam".

I also bought the Sybex CompTIA Security+ Study Guide for the CD with electronic flashcards and a practive exam but the Sybex book and Sybex CD were 70% garbage. I did refer to Sybex in a few cases to get details on IPSec and some encryption algorithms but Wikipedia would have done just the same thing.

Where the book lacked: beware the epic fail on their port/protocol definitions of L2TP and PPTP which is flat-out embarrassing (see errata sheet on website), their mistakenly listing WEP as Wireless Equivalent Privacy in the index which is silly (it is Wired), missing details about the Blowfish algorithm (oddly not on the Exam Objectives list but brought up twice on my exam), the book's website is ugly and worthless aside from the Errata sheet (I had really hoped for new information or sample quesitons), and finally the synonymns of the authenitcation methods aren't all covered (they were mostly common sense on the exam, but not in all cases). That list actually looks more brutal typed out than it should.

The good: the book hit 98% of the questions on the exam, was clear and easy to understand, has terrific font size and spacing for readability, the author has a good non-condescending tone and excellent real world examples (this book reads the way that a good classroom instructor sounds), the acronym list at the end of the book is almost a perfect match to those listed on the exam objective doc on the CompTia website, the practice questions are decent match to the real exam.

For n00bies you should have excellent problem-solving skills, a ridiculously good grasp on security topics (many university courses would meet this criteria), and many hours on exam engines in addition to this book. Seasoned vets should have a big leg up and for sure don't need to drop the insane coin that all these "online training" places want (CompTia being one of them) and they'll be fine with this book.

You won't go wrong with this book if you just read the errata sheet and drill yourself forwards and backwards on it then sprinkle in a little real-world experience and a practice deciphering the hidden meaning in exam questions. I'd recommend it above any other Security+ material out there.

Super Book, May 16, 2010
Three of us in the office have used this publication to pass the Security+ test on the first try. So far with scores of 880. Great book with large print (for us old guys) and no fluff, just the facts.

Simply the only book you'd need, March 8, 2010
The author has a great writing style, keeping the readers engaged all throughout. I have not seen many technical-books do this. Read this cover-to-cover and you are all set.

The Best Tool for the Job!, June 29, 2010
I started to get seriously interested in tackling the Security+ exam when I saw how much coverage of security there was on the Network+ exam. It seemed a shame not to capitalize on the overlap of material so I committed to more or less preparing for both tests together. After trying several other Security+ books I had second thoughts as the subject matter can ramp up quickly in difficulty. Then I found this book at Amazon and saw that everyone rated it 5 stars with glowing reviews. I got it, and as they say the rest is history!

Darril Gibson has taken this complex subject and presented it in a user-friendly, easy to understand way that actually makes it interesting and fun to learn. Mr. Gibson, I hope you are reading these reviews because I want to personally congratulate and thank you for your work. You have a unique talent for teaching - I can not remember ever having read another text book that was so easy to follow and yet so thorough and complete on its topic that it literally is a one stop solution for the test.

The large font, the "Remember" boxes, the chapter reviews, and the truly representative practice questions all combine to make this a noteworthy experience. The depth and breadth of material coverage is perfect - be assured if it's in the book you need to know it, and if it's not you don't. This book is so focused that you can't use the same approach many people use on text books - skimming and highlighting. There is no fat to trim and you really need to know all that is presented. But if you take the time to fully digest it carefully and have a good memory you will pass Security+ "just studying out of the book". I did!

After Exam Review..., November 17, 2010
English is not my first language, with that being said. Time for the review!!! I was actually awaiting after the exam to provide my review so here I go.

If you are looking for a non-boring book and one that give you all the knowledge in non-too technological terms in order for you to understand the material, this is the book for you. I watched all the reviews here prior to buy this book here and since all of them was 5 starts I decided to give it a try.

With Spanish being my first language I was afraid to get lost in a lot of difficult terminologies and stuff like that. Let me tell you something. This Book is magical. Even with only a year with Help Desk IT experience I was able to master all the subjects with this book. Sometime if I don't understand one word, I used to go to "Google Translate" and keep going. This is the best book I come across ever, its really fun to read and the real world scenarios are really helpful to better understand security. The Book is really easy to read (big letters), and it has a lot of practice question after each chapter.

After reading this book for a month, I fell really confident about taking the test. I went last Saturday November 11,2010. And passed the exam at the firs try with a score of 802/900!!! THE BOOK COVERED 100% OF THE EXAM.

I really recommend this book to all the rookies out there like me that are looking forward to pass the Security+ at the first Try. The ratings are 5 starts for a reason.

I'm glad I bought this book. If I could give it 10 starts I would.

Excellent Resource for the CompTIA Security+ Exam!, May 27, 2010
The book is great! It helped me tremendously in preparing for the exam. I read it cover to cover twice. While studying the material, I backed it up with the study questions at the end of each chapter. It's extremely important to understand why the answers are correct, and why the wrong answers are incorrect. Thankfully Darril has included extensive explanations for every practice question in the book. This really drives the points home!

It completely covered the material on the real exam. I sat for the exam and felt extremely comfortable. It made the exam feel easy. Now I'm confident that I know the information for the real world!

The exam is not as bad as everyone says it is. I was fairly new to the information until this year and managed to score a 900/900.

Perhaps that's just a testament to how good the book is; it has a perfect rating for a reason.

The only book you need to pass the exam, November 23, 2010
Note: I've had NO PRIOR NETWORK/SECURITY experience. This book was a Godsend! I only had a weekend to study when I found out about this book. Bought it in Kindle format and read it on my PC with the free application from Amazon. This book is so easy to read, not boring, and the practice tests and answers (with explanations) helped to sink in the concepts even more. Plus, in Kindle form it was way easier to look up something I'd see in practice questions (from other sources) that I didn't remember the definition of, and bookmark those areas to review later. I read the whole book over the weekend, took the test on Monday and scored 828! Best $10 ever spent! ... Read more

Editorial Review

CCNA Official Exam Certification Library, Third Edition, is the newest edition of the all-time best-selling CCNA self-study preparation package. This comprehensive review and practice package is designed for the latest CCNA 640-802 exams. The two books contained in this package, CCENT/CCNA ICND1 Official Exam Certification Guide, Second Edition, and CCNA ICND2 Official Exam Certification Guide, Second Edition, present complete reviews and a more challenging and realistic preparation experience. The books are updated to cover all the new 640-802 exam objectives, such as security, wireless, IPv6, and troubleshooting.

Please note that while this is the Third Edition of the Library, the two books inside are Second Editions. This is correct, and the editions align differently because of changes in the names of the exams, from the old INTRO and ICND to the new ICND1 and ICND2 formats.

What can you do with the CCNA Official Exam Certification Library?

• Assess your knowledge with chapter-opening quizzes
• Review key concepts with Exam Preparation Tasks
• Practice with hundreds of exam questions on the CD-ROM
• Learn about more complex topics with over one hour of video training

• TCP/IP and OSI networking models
• Operating Cisco routers and LAN switches
• Ethernet switch configuration and troubleshooting
• Virtual LANs and Spanning Tree Protocol
• Wireless LANs
• IP addressing and subnetting
• Routing protocols
• Router configuration and troubleshooting
• Static and connected routes
• VLSM and route summarization
• IP access control lists
• OSPF and EIGRP configuration
• WAN configuration and troubleshooting
• Frame Relay
• Network Security and VPNs
• NAT
• IPv6
• Troubleshooting

Reviews

Just Passed Today----Thanks To This Book, January 9, 2008
I just took the test today and I'm still in shock about passing the CCNA. About six weeks ago I decided to get serious and start studying for this test. I bought the Cisco Press books and the 'CCNA for Dummies' book. It turns out that I didn't even use the 'Dummies' book. The Cisco Press Library comes with two books, which I read both cover to cover. After reading both books I moved to the CDs that also comes with this set, which have a lot of useful material. The Boson practice exams that come with the book, I think are the most useful. The questions that the practice exams asks are very similar to the questions that the real test asks. With the combination of both the book and the practice exams you will be well prepared. Practicing with all the tricky questions really makes you learn the material to the smallest detail. The DVDs that come with the book are pretty lame and dry, I didn't even use them. I do what to clarify that I did have previous hands on experience with Cisco routers, but I used a free simulator to brush up on some of my skills. This book set is a must and I probably would not have passed without it. I was really nervous walking into the exam, but the resources that this book set provides prepared me very well for the exam.

Thorough Coverage of CCNA Topics, and a Great Value, May 2, 2008
I'm a full time instructor of Cisco courses and a CCIE. My students sometimes ask for book recommendations for further study and review. So, I hope that this review of Wendell Odom's "CCNA Official Exam Certification Library, Third Edition" will provide some insight for CCENT and/or CCNA candidates considering the purchase of this library. Following are my observations:

- The "library" contains two separate books: (1) CCENT/CCNA ICND1 Official Exam Certification Guide Second Edition and (2) CCNA ICND2 Official Exam Certification Guide Second Edition.

- Unlike some competitive titles you might come across, this CCNA library cleanly divides the topics of the 640-822 (CCENT/ICND1) exam and the 640-816 (ICND2) exam. So, if a candidate wanted to achieve their CCNA certification by taking the individual exams, they could study the corresponding book from the library. Alternately, if they wanted to take the composite 640-802 CCNA exam, they could study the entire library.

- Cisco Press' "Official Exam Certification Guide" series contains several features that readers can benefit from:
o Icons identifying key topics
o A "Do I Know This Already?" pre-test at the beginning of a chapter
o Memory tables
o Identification of key terms

- Each of the two books in the library contains a DVD and a CD. Each DVD contains personal Video Mentor-style demonstrations of topics by the author.

- Each CD allows you to install a corresponding practice exam from Boson, which has a nice testing engine supporting simulation and testlet questions, in addition to the traditional multiple choice questions found in many competing products.

- The author doesn't just hit the high points, but rather provides in-depth treatment to the myriad of topics on the CCNA exam.

- Binary math and subnet masking are major CCNA topics, and one of the CDs contains a binary math game, which plays much like a video game.

The think I find most striking about this library is the price. It includes a total of two books, two DVDs, and two CDs for a list price of $59.99. As an owner of many Cisco Press books, I consider this to be one the best values out there for CCNA prep.

Great New CCNA Study Guides, April 25, 2008
Having taught the Cisco Certified Network Associate Certification class at local community colleges, I am always interested when new Exam Certification material is published. This new CCNA Official Exam Certification Library, which is in its Third Edition, provides the individual who does not have the time or the funds to take an actual class (like I occasionally teach), a complete, step by step approach to studying and passing the current CCNA exams (ICND1-640-822 & ICND2-640-816 or CCNA-640-802). These volumes provide a solid explanation of networking fundamentals and provide a logical progression of topics and understanding, focusing on building an overall solid technical foundation and, of course, passing the CCNA examinations. The current CCNA exams are much more detailed in scope than in past tests, requiring the student to have specific concept and configuration knowledge encompassing internetworking fundamentals and progressing into routing protocols, switching, including Spanning Tree, WAN protocols, Wireless, IPv6, Access Lists, etc. Because the course material has grown in depth and breadth, the book strives to simulate, in some ways, a class environment by having pre-chapter quizzes to allow the student to assess their current knowledge on the chapter's topics as well as a syllabus or foundation topics to review as a roadmap. Included in each chapter are key topic reviews, lists of key terms and command reference tables. These are critical for the self-study individual since there is no teacher to ask questions - and this is where the other features of the book come in handy.

Since I teach, I wanted some true `students' opinions, so I handed off my copy of this Library set to a number of individuals who had either just passed their test or were studying with other materials. I asked them their opinion of this new edition, asking them to look at all the new study materials and features included in these volumes. The comments I received back were very enthusiastic. They really liked the fact that the books contain both DVD and CDrom resources. The DVD has a series of videos on IP addressing and subnetting, while the CD has several practice scenarios with excellent step by step of explanations how the answer was achieved (just like in a class room). There is even a companion book website that assists the student in further clarification of questions in the book and new postings by the authors on relevant topics. One response back on the book especially liked that it spoke clearly to what is on the CCNA exam and the fact that there was an exhaustive table of Exam topics and where in the book the subject was covered. Other feedback from my small group referred to the testing engine from Boson that provides the student a chance to test just like the real thing. Suffice to say, my little group students wished they had had these great resources when studying for the CCNA.

As for my opinion of the book, I think that the writing and clarity of the composition, in logical progression and consistent format, is what I strive to deliver when I teach, so I really appreciate the effort that went into the creation of these books by the authors. I understand the amount of work it takes to create solid educational materials. Lastly, there is a good last chapter that goes into final preparation, including study plans, relating how and what to practice and how to approach the CCNA testing. This is the same advise that I give students when I teach. This new CCNA Library is a great resource and I would recommend it to anybody who is looking for a self-paced, study program or as supplemental material in addition to other CCNA learning materials.

Gary Roesler, CCIE #11451

Really fell short of 640-801 version, November 23, 2007
Just like his previous works, Odom writes a comprehensive but very dry 640-802 Certification Library. Which I have always found a refreshing style. The major problem I have with this edition of the cert library is the lack of after chapter questions that were featured so prominently in the last edition. Basically if you could answer these questions without looking, the CCNA was a piece of cake. You could really tell that care was taken to prepare and pick these questions. Also the new chapters really kind of stick out. There is little effort in them to really reinforce the learning with repeated references to key topics that Odom pulled off so well in previous editions.

Overall the lack of review questions and polish in the new chapters really give the reader a sort of "rushed" feeling.

Informative, but unnecessarily lengthy, March 30, 2009
A group of coworkers, myself included, selected this book as our guide for a CCNA study group. So far, this book has proven informative, yet it reads as if the author had a target number of pages he had to submit (similar to a term paper with a predetermined minimum page count as assigned by your favorite college professor). There are multiple instances where the author will take a 3 or 4 page tangent on a topic without really explaining the topic all that well, and just when you're to the point of complete confusion and wondering what you missed, the author proclaims "don't worry, we'll cover this in chapter such and such." Our general consensus as a group is "why did he even talk about this subject then? Why didn't he just save it for the next chapter instead of punishing us with unrelated information now?"

Other than the obvious attempt to pad the page count (and the distracting nature of his tangents) once you can get past this the book is really quite informative. As a group, we are getting a lot out of it, and his way of explaining subject matter has proven to be thorough. He also doesn't seem to be talking down or assuming you should already know more than you do. I could do without the tangents as previously stated, as well as some awkward attempts at humor throughout the book, but all-in-all, not bad. Then again, we may change our minds depending on how we do on the tests!

Good kit, has flaws; I am CCNA after using them, February 24, 2009
Firstly I am thoroughly convinced that if your sole desire is to become CCNA certifed, this kit has the content you need to pass. If you are diligent, study hard and have the patience to work with the material you won't have a problem passing.

Wendell Odom is a noted authority in the field and I am a huge fan of his.

Having said that, I have done about a dozen certifications and these books are by far my least favorite of any certification books.

A) The logical arrangement and progression of how the material is presented is VERY difficult to grasp at certain points. He makes references to concepts that the reader has yet to study and does not help the reader get "the forest" and instead continues to articulate trees at a slow tedious pace. Even with concepts I already understood, had I not possessed a prior knowledge of that given topic, it was would be difficult to have understood them from the authors explanation.

B) The author is obviously very intelligent but a little out of touch with the needs of a learner that is at the CCNA level.

C) The testing software that comes with the kit, Boson, is full of errors. I have contacted Boson and they have yet to fix any of these. From what I have seen the Boson questions are way harder than the real exam and that definitely helps in the preparation.

If I had to do this over again I would probably stick with these books, since it is the best value for the money and will prepare you to succeed. There is a ton of extra material on the CD's that come with the book. Also the two book set makes it easier to prepare for the ICDN 1 & 2 if you are doing the two exam path.

FYI: I also used CBT Nuggets and Transcender for test prep. Watching the CBT Nuggets before each chapter will help with your reading. Good luck!

Full of Information, but difficult to read., February 14, 2009
I don't recommend this book. The reason why is that the book does not present all the information for the CCNA is a very organized and logical manner. All the information for the exam is in the book, but it doesn't display it in a way that's easy for the reader to understand.

Examples. The book often refers to examples and diagrams througout the book, but often the diagram is not on the same page. It can often be 2 to three pages off causing a lot of flipping which makes associating the information more difficult. This wouldn't be a problem except when most of the example are like this.

Subject Grouping. Subjects are not very easy to understand because they are often spread out through a chapter, or several chapters. For example, the subject of OSPF DRs and Bridge IDs are split up to a degree where it's not easy to see how the two relate to each other. And for those who don't yet know about the two terms, knoing the ID is essential to choosing the DR.

While I believe the book has prepared me for the exam, I do believe I could have gone learning it in an easier fashion. Studying for the exam is already a large task that does not need to be further complicated. I'm giving it a rating of 3/5 because it has all the information one can look for in studying for the CCNA, it's just not sorted very well.

Best alternative to instructor led training, June 3, 2008
I am intimately familiar with these contents, having been the author's technical editor for almost all of the editions of this book (and other Odom titles). I'm also a professional trainer in the computer security arena.

Odom has a remarkably clear way of explaining sometimes complex material. He ties things together and gives good memory aids for remembering related terms and concepts. The books are organized in a logical progression, but the individual chapters do not assume that the reader is treating the book like a novel and reading each word in sequence. You could begin your studies on page one of book one or you could use the book as a reference -- just looking up topics that you're finding difficult while taking a course, for example.

The exam engine is easy to use and the questions are at the right depth for the exam. There are no "gimmes" in the pool (for example, a question with a long answer that's correct and a several short wrong choices). Even a question asking the reader to match a binary number with part of an IP address has 4 good choices (many competitors make elimination easy by choosing an even number in decimal then providing two or three obviously odd numbers -- last digit is 1 -- in the binary answers).

The actual Cisco CCNA tests have simulation questions. Rather than just asking about concepts and syntax, you have to act as if you were connected to a router or switch and configure it. This book has software from Boson that gives you the same experience.

The bottom line is this: When you do these assessment tests, you'll know that the score you get reflects your level of preparation. You'll know your strong areas and you'll know where you need to focus your studies in order to get the cert.

The single topic that most new CCNA candidates have trouble grasping is subnetting. The good news is that once you get it, you wonder what was so hard about it. This book gives you a DVD with Odom explaining subnetting; in less than an hour you'll be in the "that was easy" camp.

This is a highly recommended resource.

It CAN get you through, September 25, 2007
I disagree with some previous reviews: reading this book - and only this one, I mean both tomes of course - will get you through the CISCO CCNA exam. Also, even if you do not want to go through the exam, Odom has written a very good, pedagogical, complete and friendly introduction to networking in general. This is highly recommended to all interested in computer networks - even the newcomers. After this you are ready for the advanced texts from the likes of Comer, Stevens, Radia Perlman ...

CCNA Certification Library, February 11, 2008
These books are very good sources of information for those interested in learning more about internetworking (with Cisco Systems equipment). Although the books are very informative and technically accurate, I think they would be better if there was a lab section at the end of each part of the books (Part I, Part II, etc.) to give the reader some suggested lab activities that reinfore the concepts that were covered in each chapter. There doesn't need to be one lab per chapter, but a lab for each part of the book, which groups chapters logically, would be a nice addition.

This certification library is a significant improvement over the last version of the CCNA Certification Library, including information that is more appropriate for new network engineers and the internetworking problems they will be faced with. Detailed coverage of modem standards, DDR, and physical-layer WAN technologies has been summarized to make room for an introduction to newer topics like IPv6, VPNs and Network Security. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

The Excellent Teach Your Kids (Or Teach Yourself) Programming In The Python Language Book., May 11, 2009
This attractive and moderately-sized volume gets elementary through high school education in programming computers right, and makes the best use of the universally available (and free) "batteries-included" language--Python. In the early days of personal computers (about 1978), everyone and his brother had a Teach Yourself Basic on the TRS-80 or Apple-II programming book that got you and your kids up to speed in the Dartmouth-developed (Digital Equipment Corporation-improved) BASIC computer programming language. At that time, you were lucky if at the conclusion of the book you could produce a simple-minded character-based Tic-Tac-Toe game (or self-prompted lessons in the multiplication tables). With excellent pedagogy and the libraries (like PYGAME) now available for the modern Python programming language this book enables the home-schooled student (or timid grandparent) to build sophisticated simulations and graphical entertainment (like a virtual pet) at least equivalent to the commercial games available in that era.

Due to the excellent tools and step-by-step examples given by Warren and Carter Sande the young reader, or his/her parent, is well prepared for a modern college level course in Data Structures or Algorithms with well illustrated examples of Lists, Modules, Event-driven and Object-Oriented Programming. The use of GUI-builders and programming libraries enable the novice to achieve impressive results within the course of a few short months of self-instruction.

The book is well illustrated, and the examples and tools downloadable from the book's web site run correctly without the need to fix typo's.

All in all, the book is an excellent read for a 12-year old, or an adult novice, and will provide superb instruction and entertainment for its readers.

--Ira Laefsky

Excellent but designed for PC not Mac, July 24, 2009
I have been programming and teaching programming at the university level for 25 years and I have been looking for years to find a book for children, like my 10 year old son, who wanted to learn about programming but were not up to the high school reading level. This book perfectly fills the niche. With clear writing, well thought through examples and gentle humor, it is superb for the young learner. My son has taken over my PC since I gave him the book. So, it is safe to say it can hold a child's attention.

The fact that it is good for a young audience does not mean that it is dumbed down too far to be useful for any age. The depth and pace of the material is appropriate for anyone, starting from scratch, who wants to learn to program from lots of examples. Actually, it sets the stage nicely for someone who is anxious about needing to learn programming at the university level.

The only real down side is the support for Mac. The book uses Python which works on Mac, Windows and Linux but a couple of the components used in the book do not have good instructions for the Mac on the books website. For example, they are written for older Mac OS or require you to dig deep in the system files to find the directories where things belong. The forums on the website will help but expect to need to dig around a bit, especially if you use Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard), until the author(s) fix the main Mac instructions.

Even though I had to poke around a bit to make sure the Mac would behave, I still love this book. Setting aside the fact that this fills a badly need gap in programming instruction for kids, this book is just great with a wonderful ratio of code snippets to explanations and clear concise discussions of both basic and fairly advanced concepts (like object oriented programming).

What a great book for kids!, June 1, 2009
My husband's a computer programmer, and my nine year old son told us he wants to learn how to write computer programs too. I did a lot of looking around for something that would be suitable for my son to use, and finally discovered this book.

We had to wait a while for this book, as the release date was changed and there were other problems, but this was definitely worth the wait. My son read through the book in no time flat, and definitely understands what's in it.

The next step is for the two of them to sit down and go through the code examples together.

Mr. Sande (young and old), thank you so much for writing this book!

Great educational fun, July 14, 2009
My daughter and I have been enjoying working through this book together. The choice of an open, multi-platform language is nice, as almost anyone with a computer can take advantage of what it has to offer.

Python has many great libraries and the use of Pygame makes possible some projects that would be much too difficult for this level of work. That really hooked my daughter, the ability to make her own games. We've been having a blast working through the book together.

There are tons of learning opportunities that take things well outside the realm of just 'programming'. I recommend this book to anyone with kids that are inclined towards doing more with a computer than just running applications.

Great Book for Kids!, May 8, 2009
The authors have done a wonderful job introducing the basics of computer programming through Python. I gave this book to my 9-year-old, and he's hooked! The exercises are fun and engaging, and the text and graphics are easy for him to follow.

This book comes highly recommended!

Anyone Can Do It, January 9, 2010
This book is one of the best programming books I've ever read. OReilly books are very informative but extremely boring. I'm 24 and know nothing about programming and those other books did nothing to excite me in my endeavor. However after getting half way through this book I am amazed at how easy the concepts are taught. Elementary kids should be taught this, and they can without being bored. I'm very happy I bought this book even though at the time I considered myself too mature for it.

Great start!, August 25, 2009
I gave this book five stars because it is incredibly beginner friendly which is very rare for a programming book. There are many lessons that cover the basics of the Python language and even full games. There is no disc with the book but you can download the extra content and lessons from the books website.

For those who are comfortable with the basics of Python there might not be much need to read this book. Hello world is an excellent start but you will definitely need something more solid after reading it.

Excellet Book For Kids and Adults, August 13, 2009
Programming is not for everyone, but for those who are passionate about creating new programs and using their creativity to solve problems, there is nothing like it. A lot of people have this notion that you have got to be young or under a certain age to be able to pick up programming. That couldn't be further from the truth. As long as you are passionate about writing programs and solving problems, the sky's the limit. That's why I love Hello World! As an experienced computer scientist, I loved the fact that it focuses on the fundamentals of programming that everyone needs to know in order to become a decent programmer. A lot of people in the IT complain about a lot of programmers not knowing their basics, but with this book, you are going to learn how to get started with programming without cutting corners.

Here is what's covered in this book:

1. Programming Fundamentals
2. Memory and Variables
3. Data Types
4. Loops (all kinds)
5. Lists and Collections
6. Objects
7. Graphics
8. Events
9. Multimedia & Graphics
10. Handing Strings
11. File I/O Management
12. GUIs and More

Please note that this book is written for absolute beginners. So do not expect heavy duty graphics programming to be discussed in this book. At the same time, if you have no idea how to get started with programming, you are going to enjoy reading this book. Python is a nice language to get started with. The book has a very fun tone to it, and it doesn't go over your head. You can easily follow the instructions in this book and even test yourself in each chapter.

It's never too late to get started with programming. You can always jump in and pick up a more advanced book, but if you want do things the right way and start with the fundamentals first, Hello World! Computer Programming for Kids and Other Beginners is a very good book.

Good Principals - Bad Timing - Poor Focus, July 17, 2010
The programming principals in the book are sound and valid. However, the book was written based on Python 2.5 instead of Python 3.0 which is a sticking point; I say this because the original release date in late 2008 would have allowed for for at least Python 2.6, but I digress. Each project in the book builds upon the previous module that was covered which is good, however the opportunity to teach core programming principals at one time in the beginning is missed. The text is easy to read and the syntax is explained well with relevant explanations. By the end of the book, the reader should be able to make a text-based programs, a windowed program, and different forms of arcade games. I was very pleased to see the layout for a card game which no one else has done to date. However, the author presents a lot of various graphic user interface mechanisms and doesn't really focus enough on them before moving on. Several editors for python are covered as well; some are challenging to install and configure which could be discouraging. I would like to point out that the author's use of EasyGUI is great because it is easier to use than Tkinter that comes standard with Python and allows the user to make text based programs more user friendly. However, he moves from EasyGUI to Pygame (which could be a book unto itself) and then to Python Card (which needs another module wxpython). My point is that it would have been better if he had stuck with EasyGUI and focused more on one of the graphic modules instead of dabbling with all of them. I was fortunate that the book was offered at my local library. If you dont get this book, then I would recommend "Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python, 2nd Edition" by Al Sweigart which is written in Python 3 (and available as a free PDF) or "Game Programming: The L Line, The Express Line to Learning" (The L Line: The Express Line To Learning) by Andy Harris even though it's written with Python 2.

Very Good Intro to Programming Book, May 10, 2010
My 9yr old son who has had his own computer for several years recently showed an interest in programming and understanding how computers work. I found this book and purchased it for him. He couldn't wait for it to arrive and kept asking every day until it showed up. Once he started he was halfway through the book in no time and was writing his own programs. Being a software developer myself I had to coach him through a few things but for the most part he was able to learn from the book.

I also liked how the book chose Python and stick to the basics rather than get lost into creating fancy graphical interfaces right away. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

The Final Word (incl review of critics), September 23, 2000
As you may know, this book is considered THE Javascript book. What's makes the book worthwhile is it's fine discussion of Javascript's innerworkings. If you really want learn how Javascript's objects, functions, and data type handling work, then this is the book for you. The criticisms of this book fall into three catagories: 1) "Not for beginners". Yes, this book is not intended for people who have never studied object oriented programming. But that doesn't make it a 2 star book! Even beginners, if they are serious enough, will eventually need some clues about how Javascript really works. 2) "It's outdated". Again, yes; the reference section, and some of the browser dependant discussion is clearly outdated; BUT that still does not make this an outdated book! The author's in-depth explanation of Javascript innerworkings may never become outdated, and that alone is what makes this book worthwhile. 3) "Not enough examples". This is the only criticism that I

actually agree with, and therefore the 4, instead of 5 stars. Not only can this book benefit from additional small examples, but the author's explanations are sometimes lacking, or even worse, missing. On a few examples, he basically says, "This is worthy of study. Go ahead and study it." Sorry, I expect more from my books, than a grumpy professor in a university lecture hall, nearing the end of class.

Hard core Javascript theory.....at last., August 24, 2000
After trying to learn javascript from the visual series "javascript for the world wide web, 3rd ed" (and being thoroughly disappointed), I finally have found a book that describes the fundamentals of the javascript language in detail. This book explains from an academic perspective the rules, usage, and syntax of javascript. It leads the reader into the depths of how javascript implements an object-oriented paradigm without getting too esoteric. It can be difficult reading at times, but the true nature of javascript programming is not that of a simple little scripting language as some would have you believe. The coding examples could have been better, with more full-sized scripts showing the language in action instead of the numerous 1-4 line code snipets. The one big distraction I noticed was the seemingly constant references to netscape navigator, and all the bugs present in older versions of that browser. Unfortunately, this dated the book and tended to highlight a bias when the author would have been better off staying with the academic focus. Even still, the majority of the theory is unaffected by nav or ie, and the reference section is essential for any serious javascript developer. It is noted that this book was copyright 1998, so "cutting edge" javascript extensions will not be included, but the fundamental theory behind the language remains intact. With the combination of this book (theory and reference) and the visual series book (cutesy web page tricks), I can finally get on with the task of finishing my web site.

The best Javascript reference, April 27, 2000
This is the best Javascript reference available.

The book is divided into three sections. The first covers "Core Javascript", defining the language itself with only occasional references to how you might use it in a browser. This initially seemed to me to be a roundabout way to approach the language--why wouldn't you want to explain it by examples in a web page? However, after becoming more familiar with the language I think it was absolutely the right decision, since it avoids confusing the document object model (see below for more about that) with the language itself, a confusion common among beginners.

At the end of the first section (which developers experienced in other languages can skim, but shouldn't skip) you know what Javascript code looks like and how to do assignments, define functions, and so on. The second section, "Client-side Javascript", is where examples start to show up that you can really run in a test page of your own. The examples are good and there are plenty of them.

The heart of the second section is the discussion of the document object model. After some introductory discussion, covering windows and frames and some of the more common Javascript tasks, there's an overview of the DOM. Subsequent chapters cover it in more detail. This organization makes it pretty easy to find what you need without even resorting to the index. For example, I find the forms chapter, and the chapter on how to use cookies to save state, to be very useful, and easy to find information in.

Finally, there's a reference section at the back. This is the most valuable section once you're well on your way with the language, and is what I now use most of all. It's comprehensive and clearly written.

The book does have one weakness, which has been noted by other reviewers here: it doesn't have a "cookbook" section, showing you how to do common tasks with Javascript. This is a serious omission because of the nature of Javascript usage. Very often a webmaster for a small non-profit or a small business will decide they want to do a rollover, or add an alert for form validation failures, or something similar. Users like this need something equivalent to the "Perl Cookbook"; a "How to . . ." section that gives you an example close to what you need.

Despite this caveat, however, this is still the best book around: an excellent reference, and a great way to learn the language.

Wow - THE best Javascript book available!, August 23, 1998
I purchased the Netscape One Developer's Guide thinking it would provide answers to my Javascript questions - it answered very few, unfortunately. The 'Guide' doesn't begin to approach the ease of use, thoroughness or amount of information contained in "Javascript: The Definitive Guide". Javascript is as completely covered as it can be (with the free-flowing nature of WWW specifications, its hard to keep track of all the changes). I found the descriptions and examples informative, clear and concise and kinda fun sometimes. The layed back nature of the writing won't scare off novice coders/web developers and yet doesn't turn off more advanced developers. The book is cut in half - the first provides an introduction into Javascript and discusses its more important subjects while the second is a complete reference section for Javascript 1.2. It specifically treats the differences between Netscape and Internet Explorer whereas the Netscape One guide left that up to the reader to figure out - an oversight which relegates the Netscape One Developer's Handbook to the dusty bookshelf (way in the back). If you're doing web development and need to use Javascript - this is probably the only book you'll need. If you're doing web development and you're not using Javascript - you NEED this book - it will show you what you can do with simple client-side scripts.

An excellent JavaScript reference!, September 28, 2000
This is the book to get if you want a reference guide to JavaScript! The book starts by going through language syntax (complete beginners - take note!), then covers working with objects in detail. The book then puts it all into context by covering all aspects of working with browsers - specifically how to manage and manipulate page content and the browser window itself to enhance display (eg. rollovers) and add client-side functionality (eg. form validation).

The next section covers the document object model (browser DOM), and for me this was the only disappointment in the book. While I found every other part of the book thorough and informative, I found the DOM chapter a bit light-on.

However, this is easily compensated for with the excellent reference section at the back of the book which details each object, explains its purpose, and describes all of its properties and methods. The book is almost worth its price just for this reference, and I almost always turn to the back first!

As a web developer / back-end programmer, this is one of four books I always keep with me! The other three are "HTML: The Difinitive Guide", "ASP in a nutshell" and an SQL reference.

The Title Says it all, January 23, 2000
This book was perfect as a "learning" book and a refernce manual. I read the book, learning by examples and excellent descriptions. Now I use the book almost everyday as a reference when I develope web applications. Roughly half of the book is a complete reference manual focusing on the syntax, methods, and properties of ALL of the Javascript components. The reference is organized by Object making it easy to find what you want. There are also plenty of cross references for easy indexing. O'Reilly has done it again.

The K&R of Javascript, December 23, 1999
The book has a very good introduction to the core of client side javascript. It is a great reference for coming back to those things that you get kind of rusty on like "regular expressions" and "creating your own objects". The rest of the book is an incredibly comprehensive reference which goes into considerable detail. It's the kind of detail that a compiler manual goes into. I would prefer a version with indexes like a study bible. If you read most of this book you wont have to go around copying other peoples code snippets because you'll be to busy making up your own scripting libraries. I wish that this author would add about 300 pages on Server Side JScripting and Active Server Pages. I'm sure he could take the magic out of it in a way that most programmers could pickup in a matter of hours.

The 5th Edition was well worth the wait, August 18, 2006
First off, this is a review of the 5th edition, released August 1, 2006. All other reviews prior to that date are talking about previous editions of this book, which are considerably different than the current one.

The reason the various editions of this book have been so good over the last ten years is probably because they have all been written by the same author, David Flanagan, who seems to really know his audience. Part one of the book is pretty much the same as in the previous edition. It acts as a complete tutorial on the language, taking you all the way from basic language constructs into object-oriented programming and finally basic scripting.

Where things get really interesting and cutting edge is in part two of the book, "Client-Side Javascript". Most of the examples we've seen so far, while legal JavaScript code, had no particular context - they were JavaScript fragments that ran in no specified environment. Chapters 13 and 14, "Javascript in Web Browsers", and "Scripting Browser Windows" provide that context. This begins with a conceptual introduction to the web browser programming environment and basic client-side JavaScript concepts. Next, it discusses how to embed JavaScript code within HTML documents so it can run in a web browser. Finally, the chapter goes into detail about how JavaScript programs are executed in a web browser.

Next, the book turns its attention to the Document Object Model (DOM). Client-side JavaScript exists to turn static HTML documents into interactive programs. It is the Document object that gives JavaScript interactive access to the content of otherwise static documents. In addition to the properties that provide information about a document as a whole, the Document object has a number of very important properties that provide information about document content. Chapter 15 explains all of these issues.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a technology intended for use by graphic designers or anyone concerned with the precise visual display of HTML documents. It is of interest to client-side JavaScript programmers because the document object model allows the styles that are applied to the individual elements of a document to be scripted. Used together, CSS and JavaScript enable a variety of visual effects loosely referred to as Dynamic HTML (DHTML). This is the subject of chapter 16, "Cascading Style Sheets and Dynamic HTML".

Interactive JavaScript programs use an event-driven programming model. In this style of programming, the web browser generates an event whenever something interesting happens to the document or to some element of it. For example, the web browser generates an event when it finishes loading a document, when the user moves the mouse over a hyperlink, or when the user clicks on the Submit button of a form. If a JavaScript application cares about a particular type of event for a particular document element, it can register an event handler - a JavaScript function or snippet of code - for that type of event on the element of interest. Then, when that particular event occurs, the browser invokes the handler code. All applications with graphical user interfaces are designed this way: they sit around waiting for the user to do something interesting (i.e., they wait for events to occur) and then they respond. Chapter 17, "Events and Event Handling", discusses these issues.

The use of HTML forms is basic to almost all JavaScript programs. Chapter 18, "Forms and Form Elements", explains the details of programming with forms in JavaScript. It is assumed that you are already somewhat familiar with the creation of HTML forms and with the input elements that they contain. If not, you may want to refer to a good book on HTML.

The Document object contains a property named "cookie" that, on the surface, appears to be a simple string value. A cookie is a small amount of named data stored by the web browser and associated with a particular web page or web site. Cookies serve to give the web browser a memory, so that scripts and server-side programs can use data that was input on one page in another page, or so the browser can recall user preferences or other state variables when the user leaves a page and then returns. Thus, the cookie property controls a very important feature of the web browser and is important enough to warrant a complete chapter of its own, "Cookies and Client-Side Persistence".

Internet Explorer on Windows, Safari on Mac OS-X, Mozilla on all platforms, Konqueror in KDE, IceBrowser on Java, and Opera on all platforms provide a method for client side Javascript to make HTTP requests. From humble beginnings as an oddly named object with few admirers, it's blossomed to be the core technology in something called AJAX. The object in question is called the XMLHTTPRequest object, and it is not limited to being used with XML. It can request or send any type of document, although dealing with binary streams can be problematical in Javascript. This chapter, "Scripting HTTP", covers these issues. Since AJAX actually stands for "Asynchronous Javascript and XML", the next chapter discusses Javascript and XML working together.

The final two chapters of part two of the book are very cool and interesting to me, but might not be of interest to the standard professional Javascript programmer, since it deals with client-side graphics and movies using Javascript. This includes working with VML, SVG, graphics and Java, and finally using Javascript with Flash 8. Parts three and four form a reference section for Javascript, including the various methods and their usages.

The source code is well commented and explained, as in all previous editions, and is available for download from the book's website. This book is a great instructive textbook and reference on Javascript. I highly recommend it.

Pretty Good, Probably Great for C/C++/Java Programmer, August 10, 2000
An overall good book. The reference section is the strongest point, however the though of simply reading a reference section is terrifying.

If you already know one of the languages, or are familiar with Object oriented Programming, this is very probably the book for you.

If you have not programmed before, do a little online reading, then try this book. if your willing to put the time in, you will learn a lot.

Before reading this I knew HTML, and had read some online tutorials of JavaScript, which classifies me somewhere outside the realm of programmer. The first 11 chapters were rather abstract and somewhat confusing, and would have been moreso if i had not already read up a little.

But then it started making sense. you don't really learn how to write any script for real until about chapter 12, but then it really starts making sense. I had to read the beginning again after finishing the book, but now I feel like I have a firm handle on the topic.

Throughout the book many (many) referneces are made to the similarities and ifferences between JScript and C/C++/Java. There is an entire chapter devouted to java and Jscript working together.

Another great one from Flanagan, September 10, 2004
If you're already an experienced programmer, it can be frustrating trying to find a good book on JavaScript (aka JScript, aka ECMAScript, aka ECMA-262). A lot of books out there are aimed at HTML developers, maybe even graphic designers. Many such users have little or no real programming experience, and maybe no real interest. Books for that audience are user-friendly, filled with useful examples, and low on scary-sounding technical terms. In other words, almost useless.

Flanagan has good credentials as a technical writer, and as a highly technical writer. He really knows what software engineers look for - trust me, it's not what a graphic designer looks for.

This starts with a clear, methodical description of the language. Flanagan goes through all the language basics, pointing out where JavaScript differs form languages like Java, C#, or C++. The differences are numerous. For example, JavaScript has typed data, but not typed variables. It's object oriented, but doesn't have classes. It's an interpreted language, not compiled, and that opens up generative programming possibilities that reflection APIs can't approach.

After the language itself, Flanagan presents it in the client-side HTML context, where it appears most often. That's about 20% of the book. It goes over all the common HTML features, and shows how JavaScript can add dynamics or configurability to most HTML features. The last part of this section discusses XML and the DOM model. It does not yet discuss the E4X standard, ECMAScript for XML, the new ECMA-357 standard. As of this writing, the standard has only been out for three months, though. I'm sure Flanagan will catch up to it soon.

The book's remaining three sections cover the language's basic APIs, the APIs needed in the client-side HTML context, and the DOM model. The first two are fundamental to any non-trivial use of the language, the last is the programming model that gives access to XML or XHTML in a rational, predictable way.

JavaScript has a number of very different user communities, with different needs when it comes to language documentation. This isn't a cut&paster's book, and is nothing at all like a training guide. It's a reference manual. If you're a serious techie, then this is the book for you.

//wiredweird ... Read more

Editorial Review

As part of the highly acclaimed Mastering series from Sybex, this book offers a comprehensive look at VMware vSphere 4, how to implement it, and how to make the most of what it offers.

Coverage Includes:

• Shows administrators how to use VMware to realize significant savings in hardware costs while still providing adequate "servers" for their users
• Demonstrates how to partition a physical server into several virtual machines, reducing the overall server footprint within the operations center
• Explains how VMware subsumes a network to centralize and simplify its management, thus alleviating the effects of "virtual server sprawl"

Now that virtualization is a key cost-saving strategy, Mastering VMware vSphere 4 is the strategic guide you need to maximize the opportunities. ... Read more

Reviews

The new vSphere "bible" has arrived!, September 10, 2009
Scott Lowe's blog has always been impressive but his new vSphere book is a real "masterpiece"!

This book starts with vSphere planning and installation and moves into daily administrative tasks. I especially enjoyed the chapters on resource allocation, high availability, and automating vSphere.

Scott's extensive real-world experience really shows through in the way that the book is written.

If you had to choose only one vSphere book - this is the book to choose!

-David Davis, vExpert, VCP4, CCIE
[...]

Path of least resistance to vSphere !!, December 9, 2009
VSphere is definitely a step in the right direction for those who are using VMware version 3.x and possibly the right step those who have never used VMware previously. I guess the important question at the end boils down to "What is the path of least resistance both to bring your skills up to date and to introduce or update your environment as painlessly as possible to vSphere?" To cut a long story short, Unless you have the ability to attend the vSphere course or have the time and resources to swot the technical manuals; you will have a bit of a bumpy ride ahead of you. Getting started of vSphere for those who are new to the product or those who are living with VMware day and night is definitely made a lot easier and shorter by this book. It gets you started as quickly as possible by explaining the whole concept of virtualization and its implementation using VMware ESX 4.x known as vSphere. Tips, real life examples and recommendations from someone whose job is to design, implement and support the product are everywhere in the book and offer a very valuable insight into the product.

So, Should You Get This Book?
Newbie: For a VMware Newbie, this is a very good book. You're in for a proper initiation into the virtual world of computer resources. Still, you do need to work with the product otherwise your retention for the information presented will be very very short indeed.
Seasoned: Short path to upgrade your ESX 3.x knowledge to vSphere and see what's new in ESX 4.x. Once done, the possibilities are endless, or at least you can start reading the technical manuals for more details and specifics and the multitude of presentation, White & Technical papers and plenty of high quality training video on the net and You Tube.
Seeking VCP: The book will cut your study time in half; your will get all the essential information and a few valuable tips to get your nearly ready for the big day; but again you will have no choice but to scourge through the technical manuals and examine every screen in the product to get really really comfortable before attempting the VCP 4.x exams. There is no substitute to experience.
Attended ESX Course: From previous experience, ESX course are well laid and worth every penny spent.

No doubt, this is a good enjoyable book and quiet informative. I'm reluctant to say it's a "Mastering" as that stage of knowledge requires substantial commitment to work intensively with the product hand in hand with the technical manuals before you can say you have mastered the product; but it's a tool for mastering the product.

A quick note, you will outgrow this book quickly, so you may not end up keeping it as a reference; the products technical guides from VMware are 2nd to none in their quality.

Another interesting point, between me and my colleagues in the office we purchased about 5 copies of this book; we all loved it.

Not mastering but still a great book., October 11, 2009
To "Master" you will need to read every article about the command line and vSphere out there on the Internet. The book does an outstanding job giving you all the must have knowledge, and if you understand the book's content, you can see yourself going forward with vmware. I am also using it as a part of my prep towards the vcp4 test, and love the way it is organized. Feels like it was written by a hands on person not some technical writer, it is very clear and concise, and very well chapter-ed. Highly recommending Scott's blog as well as David Davis from Train Signal, which is probably the best video instructor you ever had.

Excellent for building a foundation, July 26, 2010
I work with VMware on a regular basis and wanted to prepare for an upcoming VMware Fast Track class. I read this book and it did an excellent job in providing a foundation for my learning. I didn't find any glaring errors and the explanations were pretty straightforward and easy to follow. If you're going to take the VCP test, I don't think this should be your only study resource, but it will definitely provide you with a solid background in VMware vSphere.

Excellent Book for vSphere 4, February 19, 2010
It is obvious that the author has put a lot of effort into writing this book and it shows. It is amazing the breadth of information that he covers.
If I had to add something for improvement it would be more samples of basic things like a VM build for a SQL Server from start to finish using the new vSphere 4 features. Disk setup, type, adapters, etc...
All in all this a great book that i can highly recommend. Not only is it very informative but it is also easy to read. I hope he creates more like on using the included backup, or 3rd party tools, or situational like what to do if a host isn't responding but the VMs are still running fine.

A great read!

Great Book, December 30, 2009
Just finished my VCP certification using mainly this book and some online docs as my study material. Have read a number of other books on 3I and by far I enjoyed this text much more. Seems to strike a very good balance of content vs. length in addition to the presentation is very good. Scott makes some very good points on planning a virtual environment that I had not seen in the other books but had learned by painful experience on 3i. This book is well worth the money and time to read!!!

Excellent Book, December 12, 2009
I purchased this book three months prior to taking the VMware Installation, Configuration, and Management course to get a head start on framing my thinking to understand virtualization. This book did this and more. I took the book to class with me just so I could enhance my learning experience and boy did it!!

Great book and easy to read., October 17, 2009
I needed a book to give me the details on vShere_4 and this is a great book.

Sybex books are among the best out there, I am RHEL5 Certified and I want to
get my VMware certification so I have a lot of work ahead of me.

I always found reading from a book you comprehend the material easier than
trying to read on-line manuals.

A tech book thats easy to read, October 2, 2009
I got my book about 3 weeks ago. I've read it over at least once, but never straight through as the topics I'm looking for never seem to run together. This book is one of the VERY few that I feel are the easiest to read (assuming you also have some idea of how Infrastructure 3 worked). Definitely a must read if you're interested in vSphere.

Excellent vSphere Resource, August 1, 2010
I found this book a very thorough and enjoyable read. Although I've been a fan of Scott's blog for a few years and thus I'd been exposed to his style, this is the first book authored by Scott that I've read. Fortunately, Scott's approach to quality and deep technical writing carried over from his blog articles to his book. VMware Virtual Infrastructure, now in its 4th generation, boasts many features (150 new features in vSphere alone) and this book covers what one needs to know to be successful in planning, deploying, and maintaining VMware vSphere. One feature I like in particular is that each chapter starts with a meaningful introduction to the coming chapter, and ends with a summary, including "Master It" objectives which challenge the reader based on what he/she just read - an effective way to reinforce learning as well as practical applications. The author is passionate about VMware virtualization and enabling technologies. Coupled with his experience and subject matter expertise, the result is a book which could only be rated at 5 stars or better. Now that vSphere 4.1 is released, I hope that Scott considers a second edition.

The storage chapter was written by Chad Sakac of EMC and occupies a significant portion of the book. Storage is a critical vector because there are a large number of considerations surrounding storage as well as a large number of compatible storage vendors to choose from. Tie these together and there are literally hundreds of storage combinations to choose from to back your datacenter specific vSphere infrastructure which will be weighted by uptime, performance, scalability, and cost. A select few combinations will be right for your datacenter, while the remainder will not. The danger is making a poor storage decision. The concept of measure twice, cut once applies. Chad delivers the superior storage detail which is needed, covering all of the storage options and protocols supported by VMware vSphere. It is no longer a fibre channel SAN world which narrowed storage decisions down quite easily. You have to consider IP based storage solutions like iSCSI and NFS because of their cost avoidance benefit while offering fibre channel SAN comparable peformance. There is so much packed in this chapter, I plan on going through it again as a refresher.

If you're serious about vSphere, this book belongs in your library. It was the only book of its technical depth when released in August 2009. There are now a few more vSphere books which have been released which I look forward to getting to. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Based on Big Nerd Ranch’s popular iPhone Bootcamp class, iPhone Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide leads you through the essential tools and techniques for developing applications for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. In each chapter, you will learn programming concepts and apply them immediately as you build an application or enhance one from a previous chapter. These applications have been carefully designed and tested to teach the associated concepts and to provide practice working with the standard development tools Xcode, Interface Builder, and Instruments. The guide’s learn-while-doing approach delivers the practical knowledge and experience you need to design and build real-world applications. Here are some of the topics covered:

• Dynamic interfaces with animation
• Using the camera and photo library
• User location and mapping services
• Accessing accelerometer data
• Handling multi-touch gestures
• Navigation and tabbed applications
• Tables and creating custom rows
• Multiple ways of storing and loading data: archiving, Core Data, SQLite
• Communicating with web services
• ALocalization/Internationalization

Reviews

Love it. I can't stop reading it, April 21, 2010
I love this book. I like the style and honesty of the author. Go right to the point. Is not boring. This is my 3rd iPhone Programming book. I love Jeff LaMarche too (It is also, a great intro to iPhone development). But, I think this one is less cluttered. I got the book yesterday (April 20, 2010). In two hours I read up to chapter 4 (I liked chapter 3 - Memory Management). Good introduction. The combination of XCode screen shots and UML charts are excellent complements to the text. I recommend this book (and Kochan, Objective-C programing book, latest edition) to anyone who wants learn how to program the iPhone. It is sad, that they don't have a chapter on OpenGL-ES, but it looks like the authors are planning to put together a book alone on this subject. I can't wait!. IMHO, Mr. Hillegas and his group, have (or has) mastered the art of communicating knowledge to the masses.

Top of the Heap, April 27, 2010
If you plan on picking up a book about iPhone programming, you've found the right one.

I have a *ton* of iPhone books (and programming books, in general), and this sits at the top of the heap. The book is easy to read and understand, and the code provided is reusable (bonus!). It's obvious the material is derived from an experienced team.

Ultimately I've found that I can "trust" the problems/solutions laid out in the book, since it's coming from The Big Nerd Ranch (search for it if you're not familiar).

5+ stars.

My 3 book recommendation for iPhone:
1) iPhone Programming (this book)
2) Programming in Objective-C (Kochan)
3) Cocoa Design Patterns (Buck, Yacktman)

One of the best programming books I've ever read, May 4, 2010
I move from software technologies almost yearly, starting with PHP to ASP.NET and now starting iPhone development, so each year is basically another library of books I have to buy to teach myself the language. I've read a ridiculous amount of computer books, ranging from the terrible (super boring, dense) to the insultingly easy ones (that basically treat you like a 4th grader learning programming.)

This, thankfully, is a fantastic mix of being incredibly easy to pick up and read, and also super informative. As far as iPhone development goes, this will be my 4th introductory book I've picked up, trying to get a handle on developing for the platform. The other books all typically tend to throw you into immediately coding, and never really actually explain why you're doing what you're doing, or make sense of any of it. Yes, this book does start off with an example chapter that you basically just copy word for word, but that's mostly to get your feet wet before actually digging through all the details and building your foundation.

In the first 3-4 chapters of this book, I already feel like I have a complete grasp on subjects that I did not yet understand from the 3 previous books I've read. I sort of had an idea why I typed '*' in front of names, or what @property (retain) statements meant, but I never fully understood what I was doing--it was mostly just "well, I read it, so it must be the way to do it." Basically, the other books got me about 75-80% there, but this one is 100%. The last 20 I feel is the most important, because that's when you finally begin to understand the concepts of the language, which let you move onto the more complex stuff with confidence.

Another reason I feel this makes a great coding book is the layout of each page. I can't tell you how important it is to present all that text + code in a meaningful, organized way. I've read some books where they just hit you over the head with instructions, with almost no visual clues and with fragmented code samples. But the pages in this book have plenty of white space per page, have plenty of illustrations and each code sample is commented (an appropriate amount) to give you hints as you're typing code as to what you're doing.

Finally, and thank goodness for this, the first example in this book that you write is NOT a Hello, World app :)

In summation, if you're like me and have started to read a few books (or maybe you haven't, I wish I could have started with this one) and are looking for a way to really feel confident with iPhone core concepts, then pick this book up and give it a read. I can't wait to get started on the many project ideas I have!

Misleading on OpenGL ES., May 26, 2010
The book promises "Dive into animation and effects, using Core Animation and OpenGL ES" but there is no OpenGL ES in the book. The authors state that they wrote a chapter for it, then rewrote it, then rewrote it, then decided to leave it out and put the information into another book.

The rest of the book seems like it is well written and gets to the point without a lot of fluff, but seeing as I specifically ordered the book for the OpenGL ES information then had to go through a return process because I was mislead by the publishers I cannot rate this any higher than a three star.

Beginners must buy and read and code, code, code!!!!, August 8, 2010
I picked this up as my first iPhone (Apple) Development book and I was able to get through it in less than a week (working only nights). It's a very easy, straight-to-the-point read and the samples are simple and really drive home the basics. After reading this book, you will want to delve into Apple's documentation more heavily before you start building apps or maybe pick up a more advance book, but this is a great start nonetheless.

I'm currently reading LaMarche's Beginning iPhone 3 Development and I can already tell in chapter 4 that it'll take me a while to get through this book. I enjoy it so far, but it's just a little more dragged out that BNRG's book.

Also, Hillegass is a bit of a purist, setting up non-templated projects and doing a lot of coding, almost avoiding Interface Builder, so you'll get to see how things really work and connect in MVC in Cocoa Touch. I think that's a great approach to teaching. After you learn the inner-workings of a programming language, you will be more comfortable using templates and code gens, then tweaking your code to make things work properly.

Bottom line, as a beginner, you can't go wrong with this book.

Cheers.

Decent IPhone Book, July 6, 2010
This is a good introduction on iPhone programming. It doesn't cover as depth as some of the other books on the market, but it doesn't waste pages on useless things. Overall, it is a good buy.

Great book, September 14, 2010
I'm going to start off with the fact that I NEVER write reviews unless I feel ripped off or deceived. But in this case I have nothing but good things to say about the guys at Big Nerd Ranch.

I'm not a programmer. I'm honestly have only the most basic tenets of computer science and programming. I took AP Computer Science in High school which gives me my amateur C++ background and an introductory Java class in undergrad which armed me with a basic understanding of the concepts behind object oriented programming. Beyond that I've never programmed much less even seen objective-C or interacted with the iPhone SDK.

But with only that, this book has been able to make me incredibly proficient at learning how to program the iPhone(so much so I feel confident enough to teach it to someone else). It's well structured, taking you from the basics and introductory projects to more complex ones. They do very well in explaining everything and when you're at a loss, one of the BIGGEST assets I find is the forums they have online in which the authors are very active in, fielding questions and giving hints. What's also really nice is that in addition to teaching, they also help you go that extra step by providing small extra credit problems to make sure the concepts and material are understood. But it's not a pure regurgitation of the material in the chapter. It requires digging through the developer documentation and a little independent thinking, helping you to learn to investigate the tools that you'll need to successfully write your own programs and helping you to think in a certain way to tackle the problems you'll come across.

I've tried at least half a dozen other books and they'be either been so rudimentary and poor at explaining that you feel like you're just blindly copying code or so haughty that half the time you know nothing about what's going on.

This book will get you confident enough to encourage you to go ahead and start programming your own projects, even if you're not a CS guy like me.

Best iPhone programming book for the slightly knowledgable, July 14, 2010
I've been casting about for the past year or so to learn Objective-C for Mac and iPhone programming, and to be honest I've gone through quite a few books. I've found almost all of them to be one of two sorts: those that think the reader is an absolute beginner (and do way too much hand-holding like screenshots that include arrows pointing to the right button to press-- that kind of thing), and those that assume I have already learned Objective-C in some form, and don't explain enough. So far none of the other books available have made iPhone programming 'click' for me.

Then there is this excellent book. The authors, who are also originators of an Objective-C training program, take you step by step through each project, not just showing what needs to be done, but going into just enough detail. In some cases, they ask you to enter code, explaining that some of it may not make sense YET, but that it will be explained later. In almost every chapter, you're given not just the regular project, but also a series of 'challenge' assignments that apply what has been learned so far (but that also push the reader beyond the regular book projects), as well as a 'for the more curious' section that explains various concepts in more detail.

The end result is an extremely satisfying learning experience. Without fail I have given the challenge assignments my all, to great positive result. I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to learn iPhone programming, as long as you have some concept of programming to start with.

A more excellent iPhone Development book!, June 28, 2010
As I've attempted to learn my way around iPhone and iPad development, I've purchase a few books (as likely many others have). Many of the books are informative, and will walk you through creating some interesting iPhone applications, but in many cases, some things are just 'assumed', and aren't explained. A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Aaron Hillegass at a conference where he was presenting a session on Cocoa, and then, had a chance to sit with him over breakfast. His teaching style and ability to capture the audience were amazing, humorous, and above all, informative. It was therefore with high hopes that I awaited the Big Nerd Ranch Guide to iPhone Programming, and I have not been disappointed . From the beginning, the authors inject just enough humor to keep reader interest, and lay solid building blocks to ensure a good understanding of what is going on in the process. Very little is taken for granted, and the result is an easy to read, easy to understand, and extremely useful guide.

While I would personally LOVE to be able to attend one of the Big Nerd Ranch training classes (ah... that $$ thing...), this guide is serving as a reasonable alternative.

You want to write iPhone apps? Buy this book., August 6, 2010
This is one of the best programming books I've ever read; in 30+ years of programming, that's quite a statement. This takes you step-by-step through all things iPhone, explains them thoroughly before going on to the next thing. You will not only be able to write an iPhone app when you're done with this book, you will understand how you got there. That's the whole ballgame. Thanks, Big Nerds! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Completely Revised for the New 2007 Version of the CCNA Exam (#640-802)

Cisco networking authority Todd Lammle has completely updated this new edition to cover all of the exam objectives for the latest version of the CCNA exam. Todd’s straightforward style provides lively examples, easy-to-understand analogies, and real-world scenarios that will not only help you prepare for the exam, but also give you a solid foundation as a Cisco networking professional.

Packed with updated topics that have been added to the 2007 version of the CCNA exam, this updated study guide features expanded coverage of key topic areas plus new material on switching, network address translation, and OSPF. Inside, find the complete instruction you need, including:

• Full coverage of all exam objectives in a systematic approach, so you can be confident you’re getting the instruction you need for the exam
• Practical hands-on exercises and labs to reinforce critical skills,
• Real-world scenarios that put what you’ve learned in the context of actual job roles
• Challenging review questions in each chapter to prepare you for exam day
• Exam Essentials, a key feature in each chapter that identifies critical areas you must become proficient in before taking the exam

• CD-ROM Includes:
• Chapter Review Questions
• Four Full-Length Practice Exams
• 200 Electronic Flashcards
• Audio and Video Instruction from Todd Lammle
• Full book in searchable PDF format

For Instructors: Teaching supplements are available for this title.

Reviews

THE best CCNA book out there!, September 4, 2007
I own too many CCNA books. I only wish I had started with this one. As a recertification candidate I was floored by the amount of new material covered by the current CCNA exams. Todd Lammle has such a great way of presenting the material as it relates to the Cisco CCNA exam objectives, but also with respect to what we CCNA's do every day. Read this book, listen to Mr. Lammle's guidance, work the labs with real equipment or a great simulator like RouterSim's Network Visualizer, and pass the exam! This book is the best, and in my opinion the only, CCNA book you need.

Excellent study material for the CCNA Certification Test, August 30, 2007
I used this book to pass my CCNA test on August 24th.

This text is much easier to read than the Cisco Press books. The material is easy to understand and Todd had done an excellent job showing the reader his own processes for learning. Two words, Block Size. Who knew calculating subnets could be so easy.

The additional material on the CD (testing questions) are excellent for developing skills as well.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is pursuing a first CCNA or renewing an expired certification.

Highly disappointed, November 22, 2008
I purchased this book since it would be used in an in-company CCNA mentoring program which I had joined. For that reason, I didn't even consider other books.

I read the whole book, and have to say was very disappointed with it. It has a boatload of typos, many of them in the CLI captures shown, which amazed me... I didn't think someone would actually type that stuff but rather just copy and paste it from router lab scenarios. If taken from live routers, how could so many typos be introduced? Beats me. These typos at times really hinder understanding of the concepts (costs for EIGRP topology table samples come to mind). I started making a list so as to provide it to the author, until I realized they were so many that I just didn't have the time to do someone else's job.

I have also found several mistakes, some of those discussed / reported at Lammle's website (load sharing over static routes, admin distance of a static route using exit interface, etc).

In my opinion, content was disorganized in many parts, and didn't follow a logical order.

I understand that many people may like his informal writing style. I wouldn't mind it myself, if it wasn't at the cost of accuracy and
thoroughness, which this book notably lacks in several parts.

For example, in a section describing default routing and the ip classless command, he waved the issue off by saying something like: "use this command, otherwise sometimes default routing will work, sometimes it won't". Come on, we're talking network engineering here, not cooking recipes...

A co-worker started studying for CCNA roughly at the same time I did, and had bought the Cisco Press books (Wendell Odom Official Exam Guides - 2 books). I found myself going to those books time after time to seek clarification for things that were just skimmed over in Lammle's book, were confusing, or were not even mentioned. Particularly after starting my rounds of test questions and finding many questions that had no answers in Lammle's book. I found the Odom books did explain why things happened the way they did, and were real eye-openers. They usually required you to read more pages than the Lammle book, which is not surprising since thorough coverage of subjects does require content be layed out. By the end of my review period, I was sorry about my training book selection.

I was also surprised by the significant percentage of the Lammle book devoted to Cisco's SDM. While the Cisco Press books barely touch on it, and my CCNA exam presented me with no questions on it, Lammle spends dozens of pages on it (each chapter has a good chunk on how the chapter's subjects are done via SDM).

In short, if I were to make a recommendation to someone who was to start preparing for this exam, I wouldn't hesitate in pointing him the way of the Cisco Press books (W. Odom) instead of this one.

I did pass the exam, and with a good grade, too, but I felt the real meat I learned it from the CP books, not from this one.

I'm surprised with the many great reviews the book has here, I guess maybe this book would be considered a good tool by those just starting in the networking arena. But I don't see how it would meet the expectations of anybody with a few years into this and looking for in-depth review of how things work the way they do.

Just my views here... hope they can be useful to future CCNA exam takers out there.

The only CCNA book you need, October 9, 2007
This is the only CCNA book you need to pass the test. Period. I went through the Cisco Press books, did all of the labs, and still failed the exam miserably. This book has everything that you need to know and more. One thorough reading of this book and I passed the exam with a 918! Just KNOW YOUR BLOCK SIZES. Todd Lammle is a networking genius, and a cool guy to boot (I had the pleasure of meeting him recently). This is probably the least dry CCNA book I've come across. Todd's got a way of making light of a very dry and complicated subject. This book actually goes above and beyond the CCNA, covering all of the objectives, even ones not likely to be on the test (and that I personally did not encounter on the test). Pair this book with the router and test sims from Mr. Lammle's company, and I guarantee, you WILL have your CCNA!

This is a great reference tool., October 23, 2007
I can't agree more with the other reviewers. Their reviews is exactly why I bought the book.

The greatest thing about this book is the casual style it's written in. You can read it without feeling like you're reading a text book. It may not be for the person who is masochistic enough to want to be lectured to in written form, but for someone like me who can fall asleep in a second in a text book, it's fantastic.

If only my other text books were written like this...I'd maybe learn a thing.

Disorganized, but not completely useless, March 19, 2008
I found the book to be a bit disorganized and confusing. Many key concepts are not explained well, or are merely glossed over. I found the enthusiastic writing style annoying, and would have preferred a more logical and methodical presentation. Terms and definitions are often presented out of order, with one term being used in another term's definition before the first term is defined itself. The video content is kind of useless as the video is mostly of Lammle sitting in a chair talking. I would have preferred some sort of graphical presentation.

One positive thing about the book is the attention it gives to CCNA objectives. It does a good job of making sure that you are aware of the objectives that will be covered, and what you need to know to pass the test.

If you are studying for the CCNA exam this book will serve that purpose, but if you really want to better understand what you are doing I suggest Gary Donahue's "Network Warrior" book. This book really fleshes out the areas where Lammle's book is lacking.

Beware - not a complete resource!!!, August 8, 2008
I used a previous version of this book to pass the CCNA exam in 2002. It was the only resource I used.

I felt that I could do the same with this book, but this was not so. I've now failed the exam twice (749 and 801) even after supplementing my learning with the free Cisco Learning Network online resource (which I highly recommend).

This book is riddled with grammatical and technical errors. This creates confusion, especially with all the conceptual information to be retained. There's not much help on lammle.com either (as the book would have you believe). Combine this with Cisco's ambiguous testing philosophy and the amount of memorization it takes to do well and you face a very tough testing environment.

I'm an IT professional with over 6 years of Cisco experience. I routinely configure Catalyst switches (4006, 4507) and routers (2600, 3600). I love technology and am not new to working with it. I'm confident that I'll pass this exam, but it's going to take more than reading this book to do it.

It's a decent book, but beware. I feel that these raving reviews are products of bias and disproportionally weighted.

Thanks for reading this and good luck with your CCNA pursuits.

Well written, casual tone, CD-Rom Bonus!, December 19, 2007
This is one of the best tech books you can buy, the casual conversational tone used to present the very technical material is very effective! Read the book, practice the example questions; and start using the CD-Rom right away! It includes an electronic version of the book (indispensible for quick searches), and the Sybex Test engine and flash cards were a real help when I studied and passed my CCNA last week! Subnetting has never been so easy!

Not very good, March 18, 2008
I read all the other reviews and bought this book... it just isn't very good as far as I am concerned. I have found multiple errors where they just updated the old book and didn't bother to proof read: one of the most notable being when they give the definition of a switch as the definition of STP... which is wrong... very very wrong. It's materials are very poorly organized, it gives the definition of a term using a term you have never seen before and won't see again for another 100 pages. In conclusion I am gonna go spend more money on a different product while wishing I hadn't bought this one.

Best book for CCNA, April 14, 2009
I have been teaching CCNA classes in a Cisco Network Academy since 1999 and we use Cisco Press books, but that does not mean that I think that is enough. I always tell my students to get Todd Lammel's CCNA Study Guide and I have 3 different editions on my shelf right now, including the lastest 6th edition.

I feel those that are trying to understand the CCNA should have at least 2 different sources of material, one being Cisco Press and the other being Todd's book. Todd has been doing this book since the CCNA came out and he has been doing it RIGHT!!!! When you don't understand a subject in one book, having a different view of things tends to help. Like I said, the CCNA is not easy, if it was easy - EVERYONE would be a CCNA!!!

I also would like to single out 1 chapter, one of the hardest things people in networking have trouble with is subnetting!!! Todd's chapter on subnetting is the best chapter on the subject, I have had students so lost on subnetting, I tell them again to get Todd's book and USE IT, they get the book, read the chapter on subnetting and then use it for everything else as they work towards the certification.

Now, will 1 book get you the CCNA Cert? Depends on your background but realisticly I feel you need several sources of material as well as TONS of hands-on labs with sims, emulators or best yet - REAL CISCO routers and switches.

It is not that Todd's book is missing anything - it just takes a very good understanding of the material to pass what is a very hard certification exam. I think having a well rounded education from several books as well as lab work will do that for you!

But if I was only going to buy 1 book, it would be Todd's!!!

Hope this helps! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Thorough coverage of the improvements and changes to SharePoint 2010

SharePoint 2010 boasts a variety of incredible new features that will challenge even the most experienced administrator who is upgrading from SharePoint 2007. Written by a team of SharePoint experts, this book places a takes aim at showing you how to make these new features work right for you.

Offering an in-depth look at SharePoint 2010, the authors focus on how SharePoint functionality has changed from its earliest version to its newest, and they provide you with detailed coverage of all the new features and capabilities.

• Presents in-depth coverage of the new features and functions of SharePoint 2010
• Demonstrates installation, configuration, and upgrading existing SharePoint 2007 servers
• Discusses architecture and capacity planning, securing and managing site content, and integrating Office clients
• Details the protocol for handling monitoring, creating backups, and executing disaster recovery
• Addresses shared service applications, navigation and governance, and business intelligence and reporting services

Professional SharePoint 2010 presents a solid understanding of the functionality that SharePoint 2010 provides, which will allow you to see what it can do for you. ... Read more

Reviews

Must Have Resource for the SharePoint Administrators, June 22, 2010
Extremely well written, highly exhaustive, and very much detailed. I have read the three chapters so far - install/config, backup/restore, and upgrade/migration and they provides all the information what you need to determine the best approach. This is a large book covering almost all of aspects of the SharePoint 2010 and how to administrator the key components - Search, metadata, service application architecture, security, monitoring, social computing, and many more.. This book is from the Todd and Shane who are industry known SharePoint Admin experts and it would make great resource on the SharePoint Administrator's desktop.

Fantastic Resource! Very informative, October 8, 2010
There currently isn't too many options available on Amazon regarding SharePoint 2010 administration. However, I have no regrets on this purchase. I first thought I would treat this book as a on-the-shelf resource (use it when you need it). I quickly discovered that the book is entertaining and informative (a rare combination). Thus, I've read it from cover to cover. Recommended!!!

A must-have for a SharePoint Administrator, November 1, 2010
I read it from cover-to-cover, and if you are a SharePoint Admin then you do not want your SharePoint Administrator utility belt to be without this valuable resource of information. The book is very detailed and touches on the many facets that make up the multi-headed beast called SharePoint 2010. It will guide you very safely through installation and configuration of a SharePoint 2010 farm.

SharePoint 2010 is far too big of an animal to be covered entirely in one book and for some of the parts of SharePoint 2010 that require a book of their own such as PerformancePoint 2010, they do a good job of introducing it and going over initial configuration, and then pointing you to other resources if that application will be something that your organization will use.

Great administration resource, December 12, 2010
This is a great reference book authored by well versed administrators in Shane Young & Todd Klindt who have a ton of hands-on experience with SharePoint 2010. For those responsible with managing a SharePoint 2010 farm deployment, this book should be on your desk.

Managing SharePoint 2010? You need this book!, November 29, 2010
Short review:
If you are or will be in charge of administering SharePoint 2010, please don't think twice and pick up this book. You'll definitely need it!

Longer review:
A very critical message that unfortunately many people miss about SharePoint is that it is truly a `platform'. Many of the solutions that you will need on this platform are already created for you such as Sites as containers for content, Lists and Libraries, Security framework, Enterprise Search capability, Business Process management, Forms management and more. No need to recreate the wheel by creating any of these components using code. Rather `enhance' what's already there by administering and configuring it properly. This is where this book comes in. Todd, Shane and Steve do an Awesome job at hitting on all the major areas that you will need to consider when rolling out SharePoint 2010 in your organization. Use it to plan, install, configure and then maintain SharePoint 2010.

Important areas that the book covers -

Architecture planning before even thinking about installation
Upgrading from SharePoint 2007 to 2010
Installation and configuration of SharePoint 2010
Securing SharePoint (including usage of the new Claims based authentication) and its content at various levels
Tour around the Central Administration
The backup and restore capabilities
Configuring Service Applications (Managed Metadata, User Profiles, Business Connectivity Services, PerformancePoint Services, and more)
Branding in SharePoint

I would definitely recommend buying this book. You will not regret it. Guaranteed!

Awesome must have for any SharePoint2010 Admin!, September 16, 2010
My IT career has brought in a huge number of reference books and manuals to my professional library. Normally they are used as handy, convenient references for specific topics, thumbing the TOC and going direct to hot topics.

This book is refreshing - and is a highly recommended cover-to-cover read. In the first 20 pages, I found a number of pearls, which prompted me to continue a full read - don't miss it! Great job and kudos to the authors!

A Must Have, August 23, 2010
Professional SharePoint Administration is the best SharePoint book I have read. I have been working with SharePoint since version 2003 and this book is very clear, concise and easy to follow. Not only do I read it any chance I get, but also for specific reference. We have a 2010 intranet that is a few weeks from live and couldn't have done it without this book!

Awesome Book!!!, July 8, 2010
This is a SharePoint administration book that you must have. Shane, Todd and Steve have made it easy to follow, and easier to process the information. This is simply the best SharePoint 2010 Administrator book out there. Others might have some good information, but this book gives you the best practices in detail and with examples that you can relate to. Shane, Todd and Steve have a unique way of translating the information so that it is easier to understand. These guys bring awesome technical and communication skills to the table that enable you to be more productive.

Anyone involved in SharePoint 2010, or wants to start expanding on their SharePoint 2010 experience really needs to have this book. You will get up to speed with SharePoint 2010 very quickly. I was fortunate to take one of the admin classes with Shane and I have to say that the book almost replaces the class.

Thanks for an awesome book!!!!! You guys rock!!!!

Essential SharePoint Reading, September 21, 2010
Without a doubt if your working with SharePoint 2010 you must have this book as a reference. The authors approach is absolute geek level technical depth, with a sprinkling of humor. I recommend this book to any Administrator who is investigating, installing or maintaining SharePoint solutions.

Great book for setting up your company's SharePoint server, September 19, 2010
When we started looking at deploying SharePoint in our organization (A Large engineering company), we looked at resources available to quickly bring us up to speed. This book was one of the ones we purchased, and it's really been the only one that we have been using to help us get going.

Right now, we have opened up SharePoint to a large portion of our company, and hopefully soon the entire company; all thanks to the excellent information in this book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

All-in-One is All You Need

Get complete coverage of all the material included on the latest release of the CompTIA Network+ exam inside this fully updated, comprehensive resource. Written by CompTIA certification and training expert Mike Meyers, this authoritative exam guide features learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter, exam tips, practice questions, and in-depth explanations. Designed to help you pass the CompTIA Network+ exam with ease, this definitive volume also serves as an essential on-the-job reference.

Covers all exam topics, including how to:

• Build a network with the OSI seven-layer model
• Configure network hardware, topologies, and cabling
• Connect multiple Ethernet components
• Configure wireless networks
• Work with network protocols, including TCP/IP, DNS, SIP, and IMAP
• Configure IPv4 and IPv6 routing protocols
• Share and access network resources
• Interconnect network operating systems-Windows, Mac OS, UNIX/Linux
• Set up clients and servers for remote access
• Monitor and troubleshoot networks
• Secure networks with firewalls, packet filtering, encryption, authentication, and other methods

The CD-ROM features

• Hundreds of practice questions
• Video introduction to CompTIA Network+
• A collection of Mike's favorite shareware and freeware networking tools and utilities
• Complete electronic book

Reviews

Good, but may need more resources, November 23, 2009
Having read through this exam guide cover-to-cover, and having over 20 years of networking, internet, and telecommunications experience, this is a solid book for preparations to take the CompTIA Network+ exam. However, if you don't have significant experience in the area of networking or internet, you will need to increase your chances for passing the new 2009 Network+ exam by visiting other sites on the Internet particularly in the following areas:

* subnetting
* network security
* Local area network concepts

These topics can be researched very easily with an advanced Google search on the listed topics.

The rest of the topics for the 2009 CompTIA Network+ exam appear to be adequately covered. Mr. Meyers did an excellent job on the book, and should be commended.

I rate the book: 8 out of 10.

Read This Book First, September 5, 2009
OK, I read some sections and skimmed other sections in the Exam guide (Fourth Edition). It is the best of the three latest Network+ guide books that I've read. I wished it was my first. It is well-rounded in emphasis, introducing the subject material in an easy-to-grasp way. There seemed to be enough Mac/Linux info. I liked the well descriptive illustrations. I also liked that the material was not introduced before its time, but was described enough at the right time. This book doesn't have any bullet points at the end of the chapters. Though other exam guides are better to cram with, this guide makes a better introduction.

Of the big three Network+ exam guides out there, this is the best and most reliable. I found very few typos (4), and only three areas of conficting detail info. The good news is that none of the questions/answers in the book or in the one practice exam (50 questions) were found to be wrong (and I did all of them). I would recommend this book over the other 2 that I read.

Mike Myers vs Lammle, November 7, 2009
Because of DOD 8570 directive, to keep my present job, I have to pass the Network+ certification. I've worked in the IT industry for 20+ years, however my expertise isn't really related to networking. I have experience with the network, but do not administrate it at all. I bought Lammle's book first. I liked it very well. There are times when he's too vague or over my head with his information. After browsing through the few pages I could see of Myers' book through Google books, it looked to me like he was a little more simple with his explanations. So I bought this book hoping that I could understand places that I couldn't understand with Lammle. The two books work wonderfully together, i think.

While Lammle is straight forward and high level, Myers' clears confusion by bringing it down to my level. The only problem I have with Myer's book is that he gets way too deep into the most simplistic things. I glazed over often when he went into great detail about security and how it works. Yes, security is a vital part of your network, but really I don't want to know the intricate details of how encryption works, I just want to know when and how to use it properly. I could care less about the conversions of a series of ones and zeroes.

And with Lammle's book, I was able to subnet after reading the chapter on it about five times, but I was still struggling with it. He used a term something like 'interesting octect'. I never did get that. I couldn't tell what made any part of the address 'interesting'. I was really hoping Myers's book would clear that up for me. But Myer's lesson on subnetting was horendous. I couldn't follow it and it made absolutely no sense at all. So I'm in the dark for that information. I'm hoping with what I picked up from Lammle that I'm able to get pass any questions on subnetting.

All that being said, I would've been disappointed if this was the only book I bought to get ready for my test. It is good, it just needs more, and more test related information. I did like the way he pointed out exam objectives and included 'Exam Tip' information, but when I try to compare the exam information to the information in Lammle's book, I think Lammle will have more information that I will use in the exam itself. However, he didn't point it out as nicely as Myers' did.

It's not a Magic Wand, but it's good for what it is..., May 14, 2010
OK, if you are reading these reviews, it's likely that you are trying to decide... "Which Network+ Book should I buy to prepare for the Network+ exam?"

I'm deliberately writing this review at this very moment as I passed (almost perfect score) the 2009 objectives Network+ exam just a few hours ago. So while the test is still "fresh" in my mind, I'm going to evaluate the book I used to study for the test...and compare it to other likely suspects, based on my own reading of many reviews.

My honest opinion is this...as long as the book you choose covers the CURRENT Network+ exam objectives, it really shouldn't matter which book you buy. Now, you might be wondering why I would say that it doesn't matter which book you choose. There's a good reason I say this. While I was still studying for the Network+, I read one Network+ book review which stated (basically) that if you don't have significant professional experience supporting computer networks, you wouldn't pass the Network+ Exam just by studying from a book. I was very skeptical, AT THE TIME. I was thinking that there is no way that the Network+ exam (being multiple choice) could possibly be that ummmm...practical.

After taking the Network+ test though, I have to say that I probably would not have passed the Network+ exam without significant (professional) network support experience to draw on. Regardless of what book I studied from.

Now, I had to sign an agreement stating that I wouldn't divulge what is on the actual Network+ exam. However, in general terms...about HALF of what was on the Network+ exam was centered around networking terms and concepts that are covered (pretty well) by this particular book, the one I'm reviewing by Mike Meyers. The other half of the Network+ exam was centered around practical network admin./support skills... skills that can not be learned from a book. (not from any book)

This kind of makes sense, seeing as CompTIA general guidelines (not required, but suggested)say you should be A+ Certified and have a minimum of 9 months' professional experience in network support or network administration before testing for the Network+ Cert. The test I took (today) was obviously geared toward testing the practical skills of professional network administrators. Even Mike Meyers at some point in this book (forgot exactly where) comments that the exam covers practical skills...or words to that effect.

Half the Network+ test is PRACTICAL. Either you have the professional experience you need to handle this half of the Network+ exam, or you don't.
For the other half of the test, this book or the one by Lammle (from other reviews I've read) would do a good job of helping you prepare for the Network+ exam.

To put it simply...if you absorb all you can from this book or Lammle's book (or whatever), you might get half of the Network+ exam questions right. You can't pass with a ~50% equivalent score, obviously. So if your professional experience is enough to cover the other half of the test, then what book you choose to review with should not matter. Assuming one book is (subjectively) "better" than another, it still won't significantly affect your score.

Knowing what I know now, I'd say buy whichever Network+ book is cheaper, of the top rated books that cover the current objectives. But don't spend too much time on it. If you have the practical skills to pass the Network+ exam, you shouldn't need to spend more than a few days studying a book like this one I'm reviewing.

Now that you know the book itself isn't THAT important...any comments I'd have to say about this book would pretty much mirror many of the other reviews I've read. Yeah, there's some errors in there, some typos. But I don't feel this is significant. The book doesn't cover everything you need for the exam (no book could), so it's not a big deal if a particular book
on this subject is not perfect. This book is good, for what it covers.

Great book, May 2, 2010
I am almost finished with this book, and have been for the most part very pleased with it. Meyers does a great job of explaining things in an easy-to-understand way, while still getting in to the nitty gritty. For the most part, I think the pictures were a tad too simple, but others seem to like them.

I have read Lammle's Network+ 2009 ed book twice, so I have been mentally comparing the two the whole time I have been reading this. First off, I think that over all this book takes first place. It just does a much better job of explaining things, and doesn't introduce too many concepts without actually explaining them (Lammle likes to introduce a topic and then not explain it until much later in the book). I really liked that there were whole chapters dedicated to DNS and IPv6- Lammle's had a just little blurbs for both. This book seemed to do a much better job describing cabling standards as well. Meyers book doesn't seem to have many low points. Lammle's started off strong, but the last, shall we say, quarter of the book felt weak; it felt extremely brief like he was trying to cram a lot of high level information into a small amount of pages. I haven't noticed this while reading Meyers book.

The only areas that I think Lammle tops is routing and subnetting. I tried reading Meyers subnetting section, and it pales in comparison. I also liked how Lammle lets you know early on in the book that hubs are old news, and doesn't waste a lot of time on them, instead hammering away over and over again that switches are king. Meyers book (even if just for simplicity's sake) focused a lot on hubs early on, and kind of gave me the feeling of an outdated networking book.

Bottom line- this is a great book, and will aid in becoming Network+ certified. I'd still suggest taking a peak at Lammle's book, even if just for a few chapters (routing and subnetting). It helps to get information from multiple sources.

Very useful., October 5, 2009
Purchased this item, read through and studied from it for two weeks, and took the exam. Passed with an 885. I did have prior networking experience, but you are supposed to when you pursue the Network+. If you have any working knowledge of networking, this book is all you need to pass the exam.

Great Book, Below Average CD, November 30, 2009
Fantastic book with great explanations that include helpful drawings. It covers everything you need to know in an easily-readable fashion. I would have given this book 5 stars hands down, but the test engine in the book was not good. It has good questions but only 1 practice test and one regular test. I found out there are only 50 questions loaded and it shuffles them for the different tests. I did pass the Network+ first try but I was very nervous due to the lack of questions I had. I would recommend using additional software or focusing heavily on the in-book questions. The CD questions are very good; there just aren't many of them.

All-In-One does not mean All Inclusive, July 9, 2010
Just finished up taking (and passing) the Network+ exam using this book as the sole reference material. I will say that the book was written pretty well and was easy to comprehend. I do know that if you are looking for a one stop reference guide to passing the Network+ exam, this book by itself could work, providing you also have quite a bit of network hands-on experience. If you are relatively new to the IT certification realm, then I would strongly suggest augmenting this book with other material(s).
Pros: Easy to read, easy to understand, made complicated concepts easy to learn.
Cons: Editing mistakes, not all actual exam questions/topics were covered in this book, review questions at end of each chapter although helpful with understanding the concepts..do not apply directly to questions on the exam. Also the CD with the practice test (includes a practice exam and a "final exam") use the same questions for each one with no variation.
Overall: Decent reference book and should help most with the exam.

Go ahead and add this one to your cart., June 30, 2010
My background: I am a network administrator for a very large DoD network. To prepare for the N+ exam I read this book and took a few online practice tests. The book itself is very thorough and uses humor to explain certain concepts. I think it is far more entertaining to read than some books from other competitors are. As we all know, if a book actively engages you it is easier to comprehend the subject matter. You can throw the CD it comes with in the trash because it is worthless (unless you like to read e-books). The N+ exam tests you on a very broad spectrum of topics and this book does a great job of covering the information in enough detail to enable you to pass.

Mike Meyers Network + - 4th Edition, February 8, 2010
I am, right now, still in the middle of reading and studying for the Network + Exam, but I would recommend this book to anyone who is wanting to acquire this certification. I read his A+ study guide and passed that exam with flying colors.

What I like specifically is he separates history and concept info separate from the exam material. So you get a good overview of all concepts so that you better understand it. But because he does highlight the material that actually will be on the exam, you don't spend hours memorizing things....only to find out they weren't even on the exam.

... Read more

Editorial Review

Master Microsoft SharePoint 2010

In How to Do Everything: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Stephen Cawood--a former member of the SharePoint development team--explains how to get the most out of this powerful business collaboration platform. Learn how to use document management functions, wikis, taxonomy, blogs, My Sites, web parts, and more. Take full advantage of the content management, enterprise search, collaboration, and information-sharing capabilities of SharePoint 2010 with help from this practical guide.

• Set up a SharePoint site
• Add documents, use the SharePoint content approval workflow, and work with document versioning features
• Collaborate with others during discussion boards, blogs, wikis, events, surveys, calendars, and workspaces
• Use social tagging to create a folksonomy of keywords
• Create a taxonomy hierarchy using Enterprise Managed Metadata
• Build publishing sites, My Sites, and public-facing websites
• Show data on pages using web parts
• Customize lists, forms, site themes, and navigation
• Use SharePoint with client applications, including Microsoft Office Backstage, Outlook, InfoPath, SharePoint Designer, and third-party applications

Reviews

Great for End Users, August 4, 2010
My company just started using SharePoint 2010 and my team was in the dark on all of the changes we were seeing. In searching for training materials, I found "How to Do Everything" to be a great reference for helping everyone get up to speed and productive quickly. Unlike most "How To" books, this one is easy to get through and thankfully doesn't read like a manual.

There are 11 chapters, each covering a certain feature with an quick overview and some sample exercises. The chapters are also fairly to the point and short, so they're very helpful for someone to get through the most important details in a half hour.

Probably the best part was the section on how to find things using the new ribbon. This was a confusing point to a lot of people when we made the 2010 switch and it does a great job of explaining how to navigate.

Overall, we're having a great experience with it... people in my group have started using their profile pages and our team sites more effectively. A couple folks who had never even set up their profile in years past have suddenly become users. It's a great book to put on everyone's desk to make them feel more comfortable, as a supplement to a training course or before your team has a chance to be trained. Would highly recommend it.

A must-have book for SharePoint end users, August 12, 2010
As an SharePoint expert, I often get questions such as "How do I modify a view?", "How do I create an InfoPath library?", "How do I check in a Word document using Microsoft Office?" This book How to Do Everything: SharePoint 2010 answers this type of questions in simple language and with screenshots. It covers the common features for end users in SharePoint 2010 and explains the details so well that even a dummy can understand. I highly recommend this book to SharePoint 2010 end users. Administrators may also need this book to save some time answering how-to questions about SharePoint 2010.

Excellent New Book on SharePoint 2010 - Highly Recommended, August 18, 2010
Stephen Cawood's new book on SharePoint 2010 has been written specifically for end users who want to get the most out of their SharePoint 2010 implementation. The book covers a lot of ground, including a history of SharePoint as well as a wealth of practical and often step-by-step information that will help organizations and end users get quickly up to speed on SharePoint in general and the new features and capabilities of SharePoint 2010 in particular. One area that he spends a lot of time is on metadata, where he offers some excellent information on the use and benefit of metadata, specifically the new enterprise managed metadata (EMM) and term store functionality of SharePoint 2010. Chapter 10 titled "Using SharePoint with Client Applications" provides a unique look at SharePoint client technology and the benefits of third party tools in addition to those available from Microsoft.

Stephen provides an interesting, easy to read, and highly practical book on SharePoint 2010. I highly recommend it.

Approaching SharePoint 2010 with fresh eyes from the ground up, August 16, 2010
Having worked with SharePoint for over 3 years I found this book to be extremely helpful to dissect SharePoint 2010 as if from the perspective of a user with no SharePoint experience at all. Stephen has an uncanny way of exploring all of the elements on a screen and explaining them in very simple terms while also giving detailed background to areas that may not be apparent to a new user.

I especially liked the flow of this book as it kept things primarily focused on end user usage with small dips into administrative scenarios but only when necessary. Screenshots are used very well to point out and highlight specific screens in a logical manner.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is new to SharePoint 2010 or would like a complete overview of all of the end user functionality and concerns.

Perfect for new and experienced end-users, August 12, 2010
Having only started learning SharePoint recently it can tend to be overwhelming at first as there is so much possible when it comes to creating your own site, creating list and libraries to upload documents, and even editing web parts. I started learning SharePoint shortly before SharePoint 2010 came out and having just learned SharePoint 2007 I was worried that the transistion may be difficult. However that was not so after reading this book. It was a very light read and explained everything in an easy to understand way that made reading multiple chapters a breeze. Many end user books can tend to be difficult to read and you will sometimes end up reading chapters over again having not understood it clearly. That is not so with How to Do Everything: SharePoint 2010 as all the unnecessary techincal terminology is left out, making it a pleasure to even broswe through if something has you stumped. I would strongly recommend this book to any SharePoint 2010 end-user whether brand new or even if you consider yourself an expert.

How to do Everything MS SharePoint 2010 is a Fantastic End User book, October 27, 2010
I found the book to be very informative as it guides End Users through the new UI of SP2010, the new feature sets especially in SPD 2010. I like how it introduces the new concepts and shifts in how Service Applications are used and consumed. All in all a great book and i reccomend getting it. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Detailed information & instruction on the latest version of Access, January 11, 2007
This book teaches you how to design and maintain databases, search them for information, and build attractive forms using the new version of Access. There's also material on Access programming for automating common tasks. Access 2007 is quite a bit different from previous versions, and has a brand new interface. Once you master Access's new style, you'll be able to build databases rather quickly. The problem is that with Office 2007, you get no printed user guide at all. To learn about the thousands of features included in the software, Microsoft expects you to read the online help. The Microsoft help screens are helpful if you're looking for a quick description of something. If you're seeking information more on the art than science of Access, such as chart creation, you'll find nothing of real use there. This book excels at teaching aspects of Access that involve more wisdom than dictionary definition. This book is divided into seven parts, each containing several chapters:

Part One: Storing Information in Tables. In this part, you'll build your first database and learn how to add and edit tables that store information. Then you'll pick up the skills you need to stop mistakes before they happen, browse around your database, and link tables together.
Chapter 1. Creating Your First Database
Chapter 2. Building Smarter Tables
Chapter 3. Mastering the Datasheet: Sorting, Searching, Filtering, and More
Chapter 4. Blocking Bad Data
Chapter 5. Linking Tables with Relationships

Part Two: Manipulating Data with Queries. In this part, you'll build queries, apply changes, and summarize vast amounts of information.
Chapter 6: Queries That Select Records
Chapter 7: Essential Query Tricks
Chapter 8: Queries That Update Records
Chapter 9: Analyzing Data with Crosstab Queries and Pivot Tables

Part Three: Printing Reports. This part shows you how to use reports to take the raw data in your tables and format it into attractive printouts, complete with fancy formatting and subtotals.
Chapter 10: Creating Reports
Chapter 11: Designing Advanced Reports

Part Four: Building a User Interface with Forms. In this part, you'll build forms, which are customized windows that make data entry easy, even for those new to Access.
Chapter 12: Creating Simple Forms
Chapter 13: Designing Advanced Forms
Chapter 14: Building a Navigation System

Part Five: Programming Access. Shows how to use macros and Visual Basic programming to automate complex tasks and solve common challenges.
Chapter 15: Automating Tasks with Macros
Chapter 16: Automating Tasks with Visual Basic
Chapter 17: Writing Smarter Code

Part Six: Sharing Access with the Rest of the World. In this part, you'll learn how exchange data between Access and files such as text documents and Excel spreadsheets. You'll also see how to use Access to interact with some of Microsoft's server software such as SQL Server and SharePoint Server.
Chapter 18: Sharing a Database with Multiple Users
Chapter 19: Importing and Exporting Data
Chapter 20: Connecting Access to SQL Server
Chapter 21: Connecting Access to SharePoint

Part Seven: Appendix. This book wraps up with an appendix that shows how to customize the Quick Access toolbar to get easy access to your favorite commands.

I found this manual to be head and shoulders above all of the cheap "shovelware" books on such subjects that often have all the information you need, but are disorganized. I haven't seen any of the new versions of the "Que" books that always come out on Access, but I haven't been that satisfied with them in the past. I recommend this book for anybody planning on using Access 2007.

Easy to understand and written in an interesting manner., September 10, 2007
I have a number of years of programming and system experience, but had not been exposed to Access. I decided to rewrite my business systems using Access to convert them from the Paradox system that I had used for years. Using this book and Microsoft Office Access(TM) 2007 Inside Out (Microsoft Office Access Inside Out), I have already rewritten more than half of my systems in a couple of weeks, working on them for a couple of hours each evening. Granted, I am still not an expert, but I have been able to write Virtual Basic macros, designed and completed a number of tables for my data base, forms using multiple subforms, selection boxes, and functional buttons, and a number of professional looking reports. The use of these two books has greatly shortened my learning curve and helped me to be productive in much less time than it would have taken without them.

Still missing, May 27, 2008
I'm not a complete newbie to Access or to database design, but I would still qualify as a beginner. This manual spent too much time on things I already know how to do (like set up a table with basic relationships) and not enough on the things I have not quite figured out (like how to create subforms that pop up at helpful intervals).

I bought this Missing Manual after having a really good experience with the Missing Manual to Dreamweaver CS3, but while the Dreamweaver book had helpful step-by-step tutorials to cover concepts that would apply to a wide range of websites, this book seemed to only cover the specific case of building a customer/sales database.

Helped me tremendously, August 11, 2009
This book helped me tremendously. I had NO EXPERIENCE with access, and was put into the position of creating a database at work. I went through the training videos offered through work, and they were no help. I borrowed Access For Dummies, and that was marginally helpful, but with the MM I was able to design the database from scratch. I plan on ordering more from this series.

Access 2007: The Missing Manual, March 15, 2007
Title: Access 2007: The Missing Manual
By: Matthew McDonald
First Edition: December 2006
Series: The Missing Manuals
ISBN 10: 0-596-52760-8
ISBN 13: 9780596527600
Pages: 751

This book is light reading. The style is light and easy to enjoy. The author is definitely a wordsmith and has total control over the tone of the book. Some of the chapters start with non issues to people interested in Access, but this seems to be his writing style: a neutral or buffered start so you do not bolt before you get into that chapter.

This book is heavy reading. After a few paragraphs of light introduction, each sentence is packed with actions to take, issues to ponder, tables to study, and much more. The actions to take could not be done in one night. Look forward to a week, at least.

Annoying things for me:
1. His use of 's.
Code's means "code is" and not "code's use" in the sentence [not the possessive but the contraction].

This happens all the way through the book, so heads up.

2. His use of double negatives.
I found it harder to concentrate on the meaning when there was no evidence that it was not found [see what I mean?]. "no reason you can't get a little fancier" [page 531]. Why not just say:
You could get a little fancier?
You could get a little fancier within reason?

This happens all the way through the book, so heads up.

I liked the following chapters quite a bit:
Chapter 4 blocking bad data
Chapter 15 automating tasks with macros
Chapter 16 automating tasks with visual basic
Chapter 17 writing smarter code

Part Six was the best
Chapter 18 sharing a database with multiple users
Chapter 19 importing and exporting data
Chapter 20 connecting access to sql server
Chapter 21 connecting access to SharePoint
These last two chapters were the very best in the book, depending on whether you were more interested in the sql server database or the collaborative issues surrounding SharePoint.

On page 640, one of the top reasons to switch to Sql Server: Real security

So does Access have Unreal Security? Not enough of a fine grained model? That is real reassuring...

OK, so I did read it, scrutinize it, check the fine points. When I mention that it is worth 5 stars and every penny you might have to spend to get it, that takes everything into account. The book asks questions like: Can you trust Microsoft? [Page 641], so some balanced point of view is being used by the author. Well done.

I really like Access 2007 and find it to be a quantum leap forward. Try it, you'll like it.

Frederick J Eccher Jr
MBA
M.S. Management of Information Systems
A.B. Psychology
B.A. Biology
CIO, Community Partners
President, Board of Directors, Saint Louis Visual Basic Users Group
[...]

Great Information, August 11, 2008
After reading this book cover to cover, I was able to put together my first database and understand alot more of Access. I have had a difficult time grasping this software and have read 3 other books before this one. The Missing Manual was filled with great information and was easy to read.

Access 2007 The Missing Manual, June 7, 2008
This is one of the best technical manuals I have read. Everything is easy to find and easy to understand. I have several manuals where you spend hours trying to find the answer to a question only to be frustrated in either not finding the answer or the answer being so vague that it makes no sense. This book does not do that; answers are both understandable AND quick to find. I highly recommend this book.

Access 2007: The Missing Manual

Learn Access 2007 From Head To Toe!!, July 16, 2007
'Access 2007: The Missing Manual' by Matthew MacDonald is another gem in the line of Missing Manual books. Filled with 700+ pages of material, if you are new to Access or even a seasoned pro, there is a little bit of something for everybody in this book. A fantastic layout, wonderful content, and one of the most user-friendly books out there, if you use Access for any length of time and want to become a better user or are a new user and want to discover how to use Access, this is the ONLY book for you.

An absolute marvel which richly deserves the title 'Missing Manual' as this keeps up with the past quality works expected from this line.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Missing Manual Access Review, July 9, 2009
The manual is well written and presented for the beginning to intermediate access user. Since it is a complete manual it does start out a bit basic but quickly gets more advanced. The author does a good job presenting examples of Access databases to teach not only the program but also proper database design. I like the prgression of more advanced program features and integration of Visual Basic into the manual. The only real downside is that the manual is a bit hard to read, smaller font size and harder to read typeset. Overall I would recommend this book for both training and reference. The author's writing style is extremely readable with no editing errors and good presentation.

Good resource book, January 17, 2008
This is a great book, much better than almost all of the other reference books out there. I like the relaxed yet concise and accurate Missing Manual approach though in places it may not be as "funny" as the author's had hoped. That aside, this is a super guide for all of us self taught Access lovers. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Covers Service Pack 1!

Apply best practices for administering Exchange Server 2010 and SP1--and optimize your operational efficiency and results. This guide captures the field-tested solutions, real-world lessons, and candid advice of practitioners across the range of business and technical scenarios--and across the IT life cycle. Gain expert insights on what works, where to make tradeoffs, and how to implement the best decisions for your organization.

Discover how to:

Editorial Review

The one book you absolutely need to get up and running with Windows Server 2008 R2.

One of the world's leading Windows authorities and top-selling author Mark Minasi explores every nook and cranny of the latest version of Microsoft's flagship network operating system, Windows Server 2008 R2, giving you the most in-depth coverage in any book on the market.

• Focuses on Windows Windows Server 2008 R2, the newest version of Microsoft's Windows' server line of operating system, and the ideal server for new Windows 7 clients
• Author Mark Minasi is one of the world's leading Windows authorities and has taught tens of thousands of people to design and run Windows networks
• Covers Windows storage concepts and skills, Windows Server 2008 IP, WINS, NetBIOS, LMHosts, DNS, creating the simple Active Directory, and creating and managing user accounts
• Explains Group Policy in Active Directory; files, folders and shares; Sysvol, old and new; sharing printers on the network; remote server administration; connecting Windows clients to your network; working the Web with IIS 7.0; and AD maintenance and recovery
• Provides workarounds for things that don't quite work as they should and how-tos for many undocumented features

Find out everything you want to know-and then some! ... Read more

Reviews

The Minasi Team is Back, March 2, 2010
I must say, unlike many people, I was not as excited about the Mastering Windows Server 2003 book (though I liked the SP1 and R2 Update Edition book very much). I felt the 2003 book was lacking that insightful depth that I so enjoyed when I first encountered Mark's books back in the 1990s. I assumed it was just that I knew much more about Windows environments now, but this book proves that was not the case.

I've been working with Windows Server 2008 R2 since the first TechNet Beta was released back in, I think it was, January of '09. I spent hours diving into the new features and then did the same with the release candidate and the RTM. However, I've had this book for less than two days and I've already encountered several excellent sections that clarified poorly written Microsoft documentation or provided new thoughts for the same technologies Microsoft covers in a different way.

The team for this book seems to have changed from the excellent team that delivered the Server 2003 Update Edition book and I was a little concerned when I saw this; however, my concerns were not well-founded. This team may be the best that Mark has ever put together for his Mastering series of books.

Now, for those who've worked with Windows Server 2008 over the past couple of years, you will love the small but important sections all through the book that cover "New... in Windows Server 2008 R2". You can replace the ... with Active Directory, TCP, DNS and many more. The point is that the book works for those completely new to Server 2008 or 2008 R2 and it helps those who've worked with Server 2008 find those nuggets of newness related only to Server 2008 R2. One of my favorite features, which the book addresses, is the new ability to use Server Manager to manage remote Windows Server 2008 R2 machines.

I can give this excellent book no less than five stars. Way to go team Minasi! This series is back on track.

Highly recommend for Intermediate level administrators, June 24, 2010
This book is very well written and highly readable. A great way to learn about Windows 2008 R2. Mark Minasi and his co-authors have a great writing style making it much more readable than the Microsoft books. This is the last book in a series of books that has run since the days of Windows NT 3.51. Windows has grown over that time and it is a struggle to get compressive coverage into a single book so it ends up being a bit light on many topics.

Advanced Systems Engineers will need more specialist books but I highly recommend this to Intermediate level administrators or Desktop support people wanting to move to Level 3 server support.

Excellent book, April 22, 2010
Though im only part way into this book.

I have found it to be just as informative as the other "Mastering" Books i've had from Mark Minasi.

Hes covered everything I'd expect from a book like this and its easy to follow.

Any book with Mark Minasi's name on it is a must have!, February 28, 2010
As with his Mastering Windows NT Server 4.0 books, Mastering Windows 2000 Server, Mastering Windows Server 2003, and pretty much any other book Mark has written, Mastering Windows Server 2008 R2 comes in with the technical detail you need to truly Master Microsoft's new flagship OS but not bore you to death as many of the MS Press books will.

This book is a MUST HAVE for your IT library.

James Summerlin

No One Does it Better., April 26, 2010
Anything written by Mark Minasi is golden. This book is no exception. Minasi anticipates your questions. He knows when subjects need fleshing out. He's a master explainer. I've gained so much from his writing I can't bring myself to throw away or even give away his older books. I keep them as reminders of how far I was able to get, in the world of technology, with the help of his books and conferences.
If you think you know it all you can still get much from this book. If you are like I was, many years ago, and hope to get a job in IT Mark Minasi is the foundation builder you've been looking. You can't go wrong with this book. It will become part of your permanent collection.
Timmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
x7c00

Best Book for Server 2008, May 18, 2010
Looked at a couple of other books on Server 2008 and this is by far the best that I have seen. Straight forward and easy to read.

Not very good, October 27, 2010
This book assumes you already know win2k server well. I never seems to have the info I need so I end up on the web. I think the other reviewers must work for the publisher. ... Read more